A visit to Hogwarts
by ola
Summary: This is an LJ fic, in the fabulous world of Hogwarts. Some hatelove type of thing, and a new character, straight from our own muggle world. I don't really know if it i worth a PG13, but then, better be on the safe side. Please review : enjoy!
1. A visit to Hogwarts 1 - Alex and the mug...

# **A visit to Hogwart**

by Ola

_ _

disclaimer: Alex is mine, and so is the plot. Everything you remember from the Harry Potter books is J.K Rowlings.

_ _

_It's Friday again. Finally. I can't remember ever being so tired_. I thought wearily as I slowly made my way to my school locker. All week long, I have been taking final exams in all of my classes, and studying for hours on end until the wee hours of the night. Which usually meant no more than four hours of sleep per day. So you can imagine how I felt after a whole week of that. Like being run over by a car, like having a head twice its normal size, like having shoulders as hard as concrete, like b… okay, I think you get it now.

For once, not having to hurry to catch my bus home, I was happy to slowly plod my way through the empty hallways, taking my time. And why should the hallways be empty only a few minutes after the bell rang, would you ask? Well, as I said, it was Friday, and where I come from, on Fridays, people go out to parties, and to the movies, no matter what happens to the world around them. I think there could be a giant earthquake, or the world could stop turning, and they would still go out on Fridays. Me, I would be happy to go home, take a relaxing shower, and lie down on my bed for a few months! Well, I had to get home first. 

At that moment, I found myself staring at the number plaque of my blue locker with no recollection of how I got there. Didn't I tell you that I was EXTREMELY tired? I let my forehead softly bang against the cool surface of the metal box, breathing slowly in and out. It felt good. And I had to remind myself that it would feel even better once I got home.

My abused mind somehow remembered the combination of the lock, and my fingers, numbed from endless hours of writing, managed to twist the little knob in the right position. _Open sesame_! I thought with a silent giggle. And so it did. But my happy expression turned into a frown of surprise and my tiredness dissipated like snow in august. Lying on my book of psychology was a thick envelop with the following words scribbled on it in green ink:

Alex Westwood

Locker 402

Middletown High

_Is that a joke_? I quickly glanced down the hall, but I found it empty. No straggling soul rummaging in its locker; no head pocking from behind a semi-closed door to see my reactions. _Well, it won't hurt to see what's inside. I was about to tear it open when I thought an annoying but curious though: how did this envelop get here? There are no ventilation holes big enough for it to be slipped through, and it is far too thick to have been slipped under the door. How did the sender know my code? Did he (I somehow made my mind that it was a guy's hand writing) get it from the office? And if he did, then why didn't he just call me down to hand it to me directly? Maybe it was a surprise? Yea, and maybe I could hurry up to see what it is then. I thought the last thought with a wry smile, and quickly opened the mystery envelop_.

Inside was one thick page of an old looking brownish color. It was a surprise indeed, but in the sense that I had expected more than one page, as the whole thing was quit thick. Like the "address", the letter was written in green ink, seemingly with a quill. A quill? Where did he get a quill? And who writes with a quill these days anyway? Instead of satisfying my curiosity, reading that letter only surprised me more. And as short as the letter was, I finished the last words with my jaw definitely hanging down to my knees and my eyes bulging with incomprehension. I must have looked quite silly then. So I snapped my jaw shut with an audible click, which by the way did nothing to dispel my shock because the letter that I was holding in my trembling fingers said in no uncertain terms that I was invited to visit Hogwarts for an entire month!

Gone were the thoughts of mid terms and of the Krebs cycle, gone were the tiredness and the boringness. I must have stood there, alone, staring unbelievingly at that strange piece of paper for a long time, with dust balls slowly dancing through the chilly air in a ray of sunshine. What happened in my head though was nothing like my cool exterior. My brain was a battlefield for thousands of thoughts, each one fighting to keep itself alive, and to make me realize how absurd this whole thing was. _Who could know that I read Harry Potter books? Who could get such a rare paper and a quill? Who would be imaginative enough to play such a prank?_ And then of course, my mind kept returning to the question of how that darn envelop had gotten into my locker in the first place! _And what if it was true? Then, does magic really exist?_ I thought in awe. _Could I really fly on a broom or see Lily and James, or Harry and Co_? Deep down, I didn't believe any of it. Magic? Right. And pigs will fly! But the imaginative part of my mind didn't have any problems with that. However, my practical side came up with a really good question. _When, and how would I get there_?

That didn't seem to be a problem as I soon found out. The letter and the envelope both vanished from my hands, as if … by magic, and I leaped back in terror and shock, chocking a loud gasp. How did he do that? Who did it? My mind was a whirling maelstrom. Nothing made sense. And then, even more stupefying was the fact that a hand was sticking out of my locker, and the person to whom it belonged grunted in annoyance. I think he was stuck. For a moment, I laughed at the strangeness of it all. That is, until I heard footsteps coming toward me from a nearby hallway. Panicked at the notion of what someone might think about a hand sticking out of MY locker, I quickly tried to push it back in to close the metal door of the locker. But something really strange happened (as if not enough strange things had already happened! J) The hand gripped my wrist and pulled me into my locker too. The thought of how I managed to pass through that narrow opening was ejected from my mind as I fell into darkness, and screamed.

Note: Please review. This is my first fan fic and I want to know if anybody likes it. If yea, then I might write the next part! J


	2. A visit to Hogwarts 2 - The marauders an...

Disclaimer: do I really need to write one? By now, you should all know that if you didn't read it in the HP books, then it comes from somewhere inside my head J

*~*~*~*~*

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

I don't know for how long I fell, or if I really did fell. But it all stopped when I finally encountered something relatively soft beneath me and I opened my eyes. It was a boy. He was tall, with a rather dark complection and messy black hair. His twinkling eyes held bewilderment and his mouth was hanging open in surprise. I quickly got off him.

"Thanks for breaking my fall."

He finally shut his mouth, only to open it again to say "you… you're a girl?!"

"Last time I checked, I was," I said with a grin.

"But, your name is Alex, right?"

"How do you know my name?" I said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well, is it Alex?" he said, still from the floor.

"Yes"

"It's a guy's name," he said, as if it was a fact and everyone should know that.

"No it's not! It's short for Alexandra!" I answered him hotly, proud of my name.

His face fell in disappointment, just to be lit up by a mischievous grin in the next second.

"Well, a girl isn't too bad, now that I think of it." He said to himself.

"Sirius, cut it out," said a voice from the shadows.

That sentence broke my mental dam and all my memories flooded back into my mind, making me stager. I was standing in a narrow, dimly lit room, with my back against a cool stone wall. In front of me was Sirius?, nonchalantly lounging on the dusty floor with his head propped up by his hand. On either side of him stood a boy. The one on the right was smaller, with dark brown eyes, black hair that was even messier than Sirius', if possible, and glasses that slipped on his small nose, which made him look cute in a "bad boy" way. The one on the left was the same height as the latter, but his hair was of a lighter color, almost blond, and his eyes were sympathetic and comprehensive. If I was really at Hogwarts, then I was standing in front of James, Sirius, and Remus, in an empty and cold part of the Hogwarts castle. _But it can't be! Magic doesn't exist_! My mind said frantically. But I couldn't disbelieve what my eyes were seeing, nor that I wasn't in my high school anymore.

*~*~*~*~*

"Guys, GUYS!" said Sirius, trying to grab his friends' attention. "I have the perfect prank. You won't believe what I found in this old scrapbook!"

James, Remus, and Sirius had found an old, and by the look of it, unused room, during one of their numerous nocturnal expeditions. They had played a prank on Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, and were returning to the Griffindor common room, laughing, when they heard Filtch's footsteps and his voice murmuring "I will get them. I promise, I will get those ruffians this time, and when I do … ha ha ha…" The marauders, as the three friends were called, didn't wait for him to finish to himself. They took off, sprinting at a dead run toward the neared escape route, which happened to be a small room, empty except for a comfy looking scarlet couch and a large wooden chest. The room had only one round window, through which the moon cast its silvery light. The friends stopped, panting, their backs pressed tight against the smooth door of "their" secret room, until Filtch's footsteps receded into another hallway. Then they all dropped onto the couch, raising a thick dust around them. Coughing, they congratulated themselves on their timely escape.

"Guys, this room is cool, and it hasn't been used for the last 100 years."

"How do you know it was a 100, and not 98?"

"Well; look at the dust!"

"No, look at the view!"

From the little round window, the lake shone silver, and the dark trees of the Forbidden Forest swayed in the gentle breeze.

"It all looks so peaceful," said Remus in a whisper. "James, come over here and look. James?"

James was kneeling next to the open chest, looking over its contents with awe in his dark eyes. "This is marvelous," he whispered reverently. "Do you remember prof. Bins ' lecture on the age of magical Renaissance?" Sirius, who always slept in that class gave him a blank look. "Do you remember him talking about a wizard? Albus Dumbledore?" Still no reaction. "THE Albus Dumbledore! The most powerful wizard who ever lived?" A light of understanding appeared in Sirius's eyes. 

"Yea, so what does he have to do with us making Mrs. Norris belch sickly green soap bubbles?" 

"This is his journal!" said James, indicating an old leather bound book, "and that is the rest of his stuff!" waving his hand at the chest, full of neatly stored parchments, books, and notebooks. "Just think about what kind of spells we could find here! And what we could do with them! We could be the greatest pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen!"

"Aren't we already?" said Remus, but he looked as interested as James and Sirius, who had a mischievous grin plastered on his face. They all started looking and searching through Dumbledore's possessions, until Remus, always the "down to earth one" said "wait! Should we really go through his stuff like that? It is said that nobody found a body after he supposedly dies during a duel match with the wizard Voldemort. What if he wasn't really dead? What if he was living here, in Hogwarts, in this very room? He 'died' at a young age, so he should still be alive now. Maybe he is hiding from Voldemort."

The boys looked at each other, and then at the quiet little room, full of dust and spider webs.

"Moony, I somehow doubt that anyone has ever lived here. I mean look at all that dust!" said James in a confident voice, and Remus had to admit that he was right. They were immersed in Dumbledore's book of spells until Sirius said "Guys, GUYS! I have the perfect prank. You won't believe what I found in this old scrapbook!"

At the mention of pranks, the other boys' heads turned toward Sirius, who, with eyes glinting with malice began telling them about what he had just found. "So you see, it'll be great. We will meet a muggle, see a muggle school, and maybe even add a fourth member to the marauders!"

James, and especially Remus were a little reluctant at first, but they finally gave in.

*~*~*~*~*

Note: please PLEASE review. Last time I checked (yesterday?) there was only ONE review. (thanks Ariana. By the way, your Lily series is really cool. I look forward to reading the next part!)

You people, have a good heart and review because I don't know if what I am writing is worth my time.

And by the way, I don't know about you, but I can't always enter the fan fiction site (too many people?) so I won't be able to post my stories regularly.


	3. A visit to Hogwarts 3 - Lily and Alex. P...

Disclaimer: same as usual. Enjoy the story. Review please! 

I never imagined that it could take so much time to type. It took a lot of my time to piece this story together, so please do not copy it. And if this story looks like someone else's, then I am sorry, it was a coincidence, and not intentional.

*~*~*~*~*

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

A week later, in the same little room, in the dead of the night, the marauders were finishing the last preparations for the" most wonderful prank ever." Remus, with the neatest handwriting, was finishing a letter, James was drawing an arch on the wall, and Sirius was jumping up and down like an exited little kid. They had previously decided on a name they had found in a muggle phone book: Alex Westwood, a guy from the East coast of America. With a bit of magic, they found out his age, and the place he would be at the time they would do the trick: somewhere named Middletown.

"Ready? Ready?!!" said Sirius.

"As ready as we will ever be," said Remus, handing him the sealed envelop.

Taking their wands out, the boys pointed at a diagram drawn on James's arch, and said "Americanus Complicatus Extraordinarus." And then, things happened very fast. The arch opened into the view of a closed rectangular box, narrow, and as high as them. It was full of books, and a dark gray coat hung on a peg, but everything was blurry. As soon as Sirius dropped the letter on a book, the back of the box opened, and the blurry image of a person stood there. He had short black hair, a pale complection, and wore dark blue jeans with a yellow T-shirt.

"What's taking him so long?" said Sirius, frustrated, and he struck his hand into the image, but got stuck partway there. He had obviously bloated himself with chocolate frogs on the way to their secret room. James and Remus would have laughed at the grunting Sirius if the situation wasn't so important. With Sirius blocking the view, they didn't see anything until he was falling back into the room… with a muggle boy. Except that it wasn't a boy at all, but a pretty girl with shiny gray eyes.

*~*~*~*~*

"What are we going to do with her?" said Sirius. "It was supposed to be a boy, so we could hide him in our dorm. Where are we going to put her now?" He was babbling, and he knew it, but he didn't care. Their "terrific prank", also known as TP, wasn't so perfect after all.

"I know," said Remus in a flash of genius. "We can tell Lily. She will come up with something."

"No way!" said James, spluttering. "She will go to McGonogal (A/N spelling?), then we will be expelled!" "We could leave her" pointing at Alex, who was getting angry at being ignored "here, and bring her blankets and food."

"Out of the question!" said Alex, fuming, with her fists on her hips. "I am not staying here alone, in this cold and dark little cubicle!" She was now glaring at them, her eyes flashing stele Gray in the moonlight.

"Did you have to pick HER, of all people?" whined Sirius. Alex shot daggers at him.

"Shut up, padfoot. YOU picked her! Now let me think." Said James.

"Prongs, face it. We have to get Lil on it. She's a girl so she will know what to do with, euh… Alex," said Remus calmly.

"All right," said James after a few minutes of reflection, grinding his teeth. "But I hate her, and she hates me right back. So if she does ANYTHING to endanger this prank, I will personally make sure that she finds herself in the Hospital Wing, with a cleared memory!"

"Great!," said Sirius, with a glint in his eyes.

*~*~*~*~*

When Remus, under the invisibility cloak, came looking for me, I was curious, and when he said it was top secret and that it involved the marauders and a TP (a terrific prank J), I couldn't stand in place. I just had to know what was going on. So of course, I followed him. After dozens of staircases, twists and turns, and endless hallways, we reached the little room he told me about. Someone, whom I first took for a lanky boy of a slight build with strange clothes, was sleeping on a dusty sofa, and Sirius and James were looking at him curiously.

"We're back," said Remus in a soft voice, but it wasn't soft enough.

The sleeping form turned a little and woke up. And I found myself staring into the sleepy, shiny gray eyes… of a girl of my age. Now that she was uncurled, there was no mistaking her for a guy, especially since she was wearing a rather tight T-shirt. But her very short hair, cut in a boy's manner, did suggest a tomboy personality.

_But who is she? How did she get here? And what do the guys have to do with her?_ I didn't have to wait long, as Remus sat down on the floor and told me everything in a shushed voice. By the end of it, I was rolling on the floor, laughing at the stupidity of "the greatest pranksters of Hogwarts." The girl, Ales, was smiling too, but I could tell that she was tired and still a little unsure of what was really happening. Well, so would I if I were her!

"So POTTER, your fabulous plan backfired?" I sneered. I just couldn't stand him. He was obnoxious, self-centered, conceited, … well, you get the picture. But he _was_ cute. _Eww! Did I just think that? What's wrong with me!?! _"And now you need my help." That was more a statement than a question.

"Yes" "No" said several voices at the same time.

"Yes we do Lil," said Remus again. "We can't leave her here, and we can't take her to our dorm, obviously, although I'm sure Sirius wouldn't mind at all." He said, with a grin toward his friend. "So we thought you could maybe come up with something." He said hopefully.

Potter just glared at me as if he wouldn't ask for my help if his life depended on it. Well, I'm sure he wouldn't… And neither would I. And right now, I had a perfect little idea that would make him think twice before pulling a prank on me. _That is, of course, if he doesn't die of a hard attack first! Ha ha!_

_ _

"That's obvious guys," which it wasn't, really, but I just couldn't pass such a great occasion to torment Potter some more. "I make her look like me so she can go on Hogwarts's grounds without anyone asking who she is," I said with a smile of satisfaction, which turned into a grin at the sight of James's face. His eyes were bulging with disbelief, and his jaw hung open, making him look like a fish stranded on land. He looked quite silly. Alex glanced at him and hid her smile behind her hands. I could see the glint of mischief in her eyes. _Girl, we're definitely going to become friends_. I thought with satisfaction.

"There's no time to lose if you want to be alive for double potions tomorrow morning, or rather in a few hours," said James, trying to get the upper hand.

"Since when do you care about classes, POTTER?" I snapped. Then I turned toward Alex and asked her in a friendlier tone "do you give me the permission to spell you into a copy of myself?"

"And since when do you care about other people's feelings, when performing a charm? By experience, I can say that you just grab your victim and do whatever you do to her right there on the spot!" said James haughtily.

"W…wait. I can't just stay here for a month. It's not that I wouldn't like to, but people are going to look for me back home and get worried," said Alex in a worried tone.

"No prob," said Sirius, showing her an old scrapbook. "The spell we made will bring you back home after a month of time spent HERE. But there, no time will have passed."

"All right" she smiled, then whacked Sirius in the head with the same scrapbook. "But you, you DIDN'T ask my permission before bringing me here." Then, grinning, she came over to me.

"Myselfamus, Lilyamus, Alexamus, Copitus!" I said, swinging my wand between us in a weird pattern. When I opened my eyes again, I saw… myself. Well, I WAS good at charms, and I prided myself in it. Alex blinked, looked at her new self, and hugged me.

"I believe we're going to be great friends," she said, and we giggled.

As for the guys, they were bewildered, looking from one to the other. "How are we going to know who is who?" asked Remus.

"Ah!" I said in a wise tone, "that is for us to know", and I smiled.

*~*~*~*~*

_What? As if one wasn't enough! I'm going to go crazy! She will attempt to kill me twice as often now! But well, now I will have two pairs of beautiful emerald eyes to look int. Wow, did I really think that? There must be something wrong with me if I am beginning to be interested in Evans_. I told myself, surprised. I yawned and realized how tired I was. The moon was slowly sinking into the Forbidden Forest. _Time to go_.

Before I made more than a step toward the invisible cloak lying at Evan's feet, she snatched it, threw it over herself and her copy, and ran out of the room, leaving us stranded. _Shit! She WOULD do that, too. It was exactly like her to do just that. I can't BELIEVE she abandoned us here_.

"We're screwed,' said Sirius matter of factly, twisting his wrists in a muggle manner to accentuate how REALLY screwed we were.

An hour later, we were huffing and puffing in our common room, glad to be still alive. On the way here, we had ran into Filtch and his stupid cat at LEAST a dozen times, ducking into empty rooms at the last second to save us from being discovered. I swear, he was tracking us like a hound! _And I swear too that Evans will pay for this dearly._

"If you want a revenge," said Sirius with a smile, as if reading my mind, "you will have to make sure you figure out which one is Lil and which one is that Alex girl. You wouldn't want to have another one like Lil on your case, trying to kill you too. Now, would you?" A grin.

"Well, theoretically, she's guilty by association," said Remus, always the scholar. "But Sirius is right. If she takes to dislike you too, you won't live pass this year." He too added with a grin.

*~*~*~*~*

We went up to our dorm to try to catch some sleep before the double potions with slimy Slivering. Both I and Remus were already in our four poster beds, not even bothering to fold our clothes neatly but letting them lay on the floor until the newt time we would need them, when we heard James growl "Evans."

"What? You dream of putting your hands around her neck and squeezing, or putting your hands there and kissing her?" I asked him mockingly.

"She was in our room. She brought the cloak back," he said with disgust. Obviously it was for Lily, and not the cloak. But then, you never know with James.

"How nice of her, can you shut up and go to sleep now, like every normal person?" mumbled Remus between two snores, almost asleep.

"Yea, right. And she added a 'nice' message to it: 'Here you go POTTER. I hope you loose this little marvel somewhere for me to find, or even better, that you hang yourself with it. Then it would look as if you levitate, AND it would be a great riddance. Sincerely not yours, Lily.'"

"Ha ha ha" I was laughing_. I love this girl. She and James would make a great couple. They have the same personality, and they don't even recognize it. The same mischievous/friendly/proud streak. I will have to do something about getting them together… tomorrow._ I couldn't keep myself from adding "good night Jamsie, I hope you dream of your dear Lily. And by the way, you talk in your sleep… about her… in a GOOD way!" I mocked. And it WAS true, too. But I only got whacked by James's pillow for my pain at being nice and telling the truth for once. Well, I DIDN'T know if he was thinking nice things about Lil or not, but I greatly suspected the first, especially when his face became an earnest smile instead of his usual mischievous grin. _No matter. I will make these two like each other like DECENT people_. I promised myself with a smile before sleep took me in its sweet embrace. _(When did I become such a poetic, sweet guy_? Wink.)

*~*~*~*~*

The two girls arrived to the Common Room, out of breath, but happy.

"So, you really don't like James, hein?" said Alex with a knowing smile on her lips.

"He is the most annoying person I ever met. Plus, he is stubborn, conceited, and his ego is way too big for his own good," she said hotly. But a certain twinkle never left her eyes.

"Yea, he seemed exactly that, but he does have beautiful eyes, and the way his jet black hair flops into his eyes is irresistible. You can't deny that."

"Well, you're right," she whispered. "But I won't be like every other girl in this school, following him like flies," she said fiercely. "I won't be lowered to their fluffy-headed level. Especially no by POTTER!"

Green eyes met gray ones, and something special passes between the two. Both girls looked the same, but they also knew how each other felt. Sitting in front of the flickering fire, they enjoyed each other's presence, like best friends do.

"You stillhave your original eye color," said Lily, surprised.

"My mom once told me that eyes are window to the soul," said Alex in a whisper, after a few minutes of friendly silence. "I guess it means I am still me." She smiled into the empty room. "It was a pretty impressive thing you did, back there, by the look on the guys' face." She giggled, remembering that moment. 

They talked for some time, about both their worlds, their differences and similarities, until they heard the boys' footsteps, at which time they hurried into Lil's dorm, giggling at the memory of their faces as they had left them.

*~*~*~*~*

Note: This is where I stopped writing. I don't have anything else in my journal for now. Ideas are welcome. VERY welcome!!

And so are reviews! Thank you Ariana and firebolt7 knm1207. You are the only two that wrote reviews!!!

For all the rest of you out there, I am sad to say that I thought the fan fic community was better than that. This is pathetic. One review out of 43 people reading my stories! You could at LEAST say "great" or "it really stinks". Typing into that little box at the bottom of the story only takes a few seconds!!

~Ola~.


	4. A visit to Hogwarts 4 - Lil and James in...

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

_This is my first night at Hogwarts, and I feel exactly like I do at home: extremely tired, but pleased by the day that just rolled by._

Lily's bed was the one closest to the window, but not touching it. No one would see me there until they looked over the tall bed. But just to be cautious, we decided that Lil would wake me up early so I would hide under the bed, where NO one would see me because of the blankets hanging right down to the wooden floor. And then, when everyone left for classes, I would be free to roam Hogwarts' empty halls… cautiously.

But even with the heavy weight of tiredness pulling down my eyelids, I couldn't fall asleep. Not yet anyway. I had too much on my mind. 

_Can they really bring me back at the same time I left? If they don't, mom will be awfully worried, and I would hate for her to think something bad happened to me. I love her not because she is my mom and that I am supposed to do so, but because she is a great mom, and a great person. Well, I can't do much about it anyway, and I don't know why, but I trust them, Lil and the guys. Especially Lily. And that leads to the next problem. I read the Harry Potter books, and I know that Lil and James will get married, which is fine. But I also know that they will be murdered by Voldemort, and that poor Harry will have to live with the Dursleys for eleven miserable years. Should I tell them? Is it going to change anything anyway? Maybe it's like this thing with the future that no matter what you do, tell the person in advance or kill the killer, it is going to happen anyway, but in another manner. It's so depressing. It feels as if I am going to betray my best friends_. 

Sight. This kind of thinking kept me up the rest of the night, which wasn't much.

_It's weird, how back at school, it has been 6 o'clock, and here, it was already midnight. Ah! Dummy! You're in England now, so there are 6 hours of time change_!

Well, at least that answers one of my questions.

However, the tiredness finally caught up with me, and I fell into an uneasy slumber, only to be prodded awake by Lily an hour later.

*~*~*~*~*

The days followed each other, but no two were the same, except for the fact that James and Lily were constantly fighting, insulting, and generally annoying each other. During their classes, Alex ate in the kitchen and bathed in the girls' shower room. She then sneaked out with James' invisibility cloak (when he wasn't using it himself) to explore the castle, to take part in classes, and to annoy Snape and his cronies, whom she learned to hate after he had hexed her hair into a sickly green color, thinking she was Lily. Well, at least it proved that their trick at hiding her identity was working.

*~*~*~*~*

"The Magical Renaissance happened in the blessed year of…" Prof. Binn (A/N who was teaching history of magic?) droned on, never realizing that most of the class was asleep, and that those students who weren't already sleeping were not far from it.

James and Lily woke up with a start at Prof. Binn's voice being directed in their direction.

"If you please, now, Mr. Potter, and Mrs. Evans. Go to the blackboard and write the list of five famous Magical Renaissance wizards," said Prof. Binn in a satisfied voice. Lily quickly got out of her chair, trying to beat James in a sprint to the blackboard. She was always trying to be better than he was, even in such trivial things. However, there was one area James excelled at: Quidditch. And although that might have nothing to do with History of Magic, it allowed him to make a dash to the blackboard and steal the chalk from right under Lily's questing hand. It is not necessary to say that she got quite mad, especially since she had been sitting closer to the board than he was.

_How dare he! Oh, he won't get away with that_. As soon as she thought that, a blackboard eraser came flying through the room to whack James in the head, raising a cloud of fine chalk dust. When James finally stopped coughing, he heard the whole class burst into laughter.

_Now what? Why are they all giggling like insane people?_ He thought angrily, starring at Lily with hatred. She in turn, was smiling innocently, and pointing at a rectangular white spot in his jet-black hair. _Well, she thumped me with the stupid thing, so of course I will have chalk in my hair, it's nothing funny to laugh at,_ he thought indignantly. But being whom he was, he made an elaborate curtsy to the class, with a smile on his lips, and the class redoubled in laughter, but this time, James smiled with them. _But she will pay for that, he thought fiercely. It will be even worse than the time I humiliated her in front of the whole school. Well, how was I supposed to know she doesn't know how to dance? Well, anyway, that was for the time she turned my hair blond, and curly. I looked so stupid that way. Too… innocent. Like an angel_. He grinned.

"There is nothing to smile at, Mr. Potter and Mrs. Evans. You will both have detention, tonight… together. And you will remain there… together… until you resolve your little…problem," said Prof. Binn, in that same droning voice he used for his lectures_. Is nothing going to shake him? The guy's practically a ghost, acting this way!_ Thought James incredulously. _And he gave me a detention with EVANS! He has no heart! Does he really think we will get along? Ha! We will probably shake Hogwarts' foundations first, and it will be HIS fault. Blasted Binn. Blasted EVANS!_

_ _

_ _

*~*~*~*~*

Somewhere in Hogwarts, in a room empty except for two chairs, sat two students, back to back. Each one was staring at a point on the gray wall, silently.

_I will certainly not make the first move. Let HIM be the gentleman. I will sit here until tomorrow morning if I must, but I will not talk to this… this… jerk_! Thought Lily.

Much the same was going on in James' mind. _She won't talk to me? Fine. Then neither will I. I am not about to lose my honor by kneeling down in front of her and asking her to forgive me. NO WAY! And anyway, there is nothing to forgive. And if there ever was, then it's her who needs to be forgiven. And I will certainly not do that before she asks me to, 'nicely'!_

Lily: _I can't BELIEVE prof. Binn took away my wand. Doesn't he trust me? Well, obviously, he dosen't. Smirk. That's a good thing for potter, or else, he wouldn't be sitting here anymore. And speeking of sitting, my butt is beginning to be quite numb. Sight. Maybe I SHOULD at least talk to him. Alex is right. He IS cute, and a great prankster, and funny, and smart, and… what am I thinking?!! My god! I am NOT like every other girl in this school, drooling over him! He's an idiot, a jerk, a…a…_

Back to James' mind_: It's getting boring here. Oh? I haven't noticed. Said a little, sarcastic voice in his mind. Shut up! I won't have a conversation with myself. Better Evans. What? She's horrible! But she has beautiful green eyes, and hair as fiery as her temper. Yes, and if you don't watch your back around 'fire ball', you will find yourself roasted! Well, at least Binn took our wands away. If he hadn't, I think we both would have found ourselves in the hospital wing_. Smile_. I don't even know how I came to hate her. I wonder how it would be like to be her friend. That's it! You've lost it! _(flat little voice inside his head)_. You've lost your marbles. Stop worrying about your girlfriend over there and start thinking about how you will get out of here? What?! Where did THAT came from?!!_

*~*~*~*~*

At the same time, Alex was quietly walking through the castle's halls, trying in vain to find the little room where her two friends were incarcerated_. I hope they're still alive. I KNEW they always played pranks on each other, but I didn't know they sometimes came close to killing each other! Wow, at this rate, I will NEVER find them. This is the third time I get lost._

Lost in hear thought as well as in the castle, she didn't see prof. Binn striding in her direction, until she was facing him, and then, it was too late to get away.

"Mrs. Evans! What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay in the classroom tonight?"

"I, euh, well…" _Oh my god. Stupid! How stupid can I be?! I can't put Lil into trouble! Oh, the bathrooms! Of course_! She thought as she glanced at a nearby doorway. "I really had to go to the bathroom, professor. I CAN do that, can't I?" she said, all innocence.

"Well, of course, dear. Hurry up, I will lead you back to detention," said prof. Binn.

She quickly entered the lavatory. _God! Now what?_ Her look around the room reposed on a small window, and an idea popped into her head. _He doesn't give me any choice. I can't let him see both Lily and me at the same time. He will either die of shock, which wouldn't be THAT bad, or he will figure everything out, which would be a disaster. Wow it's a long way down! _She thought, standing on the narrow windowsill. A light breeze played with her auburn hair, and she was glad that it was dark. What would she say if someone caught her sneaking into room through open windows? She took a shaky step. _Okay, I changed my mind. Darkness is definitely a bad thing. I can't see where I am going! This is really scary, and if I slip, I will make a dull thumbing sound sricking the ground, and…DON'T THINK ABOUT IT! And hurry! If prof. Binn gets wind of something going on, all will be for nothing._ Gingerely, Alex stepped along the ornated windowsills of Hogwarts. _Just enough rooms away to sneak around prof. Binn unnoticed. Just…_Gasp!!__

She slipped.

*~*~*~*~*

Note: Muahaha!! Ain't I evil? A cliffhanger, literally!! Well, don't worry, I have the next part in my journal, I just need to type it, so it won't be long. Promise. During this time, be a darling, and review. And thanks a LOT for those of you who reviewed the other chapters.!!

Disclaimer: same as always J


	5. A visit to Hogwarts 5 - the misterious m...

Hello everyone, it's me again J

Sorry it took so long, but tennis season just started and I have practice every day after school.

Actually , I've already written the next few chapters, I just have to type 'em, and you know how long THAT takes!

Anyway, thanks for everyone who reviewed.

Delores: yes that will happen in a little while! J

Arianna: yea, strawberries are one of my favorite fruits.

And now, enjoy the story, and review! J

Oh, and by the way, I was thinking of changing the title of this story to "the heart of magic"

What do you think? Will it make too much problem?

Ok now I really am going to stop and let you read!

*~*~*~*~*

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

The floor seemed unforgivably hard, and rushing toward her very quickly. Too quickly. _Quick. Shit, …!_

Alex caught a handhold on the foot of a carved griffin, hanging precariously above empty space. _This is not good. This is NOT GOOD!_ It was all she could do not to scream for help and alert everyone. Panting and sweaty palmed, she was terrified. Gone was the calm and cool. She could hear her heart thumping wildly, and blood rushing to her temples. _God, it's even loud enough for you to hear it!_

_ _

Suddenly, window opened below her hanging feet. Doom or salvation. A friend coming to help, or Snape and his cronies coming to gloat on her predicament. _God, please, let it be help! Please! I will be a good girl for the rest of my life, if only I come out of this alive… And I will never walk on windowsills again! Please…!_

_ _

She felt her grip slipping. _Our father who art in Heaven…_ She began praying fervently. And she screamed when she felt someone tugging at her right foot. "James? Lil?" Looking down, she saw two heads, one black, one red, trying to bring her into their room. Suddenly, she let go…and crashed right into James and Lily, everyone landing on the floor in a broken pile.

"Dear God, thank you. Thank you! But that thing I said?… it, eh… was made under duress, so it doesn't really count… does it?" said Alex breathlessly, looking at the ceiling.

*~*~*~*~*

_She must be crazy. Yes, that's it. She had a concussion while falling_, thought James. Then, as his emotions calmed down, he began to feel every little bruise, … and it hurt. And on top of that, well, on top oh HIM, were two red heads with eyes shiny with fright. _They look beautiful. Both of them. Well, deuh! But they do. How come I never noticed how Lily's eyes had golden specks in them?… and all those freckles… like stars on a winter sky…_

"James, why are you frowning?" asked Lily, finally breaking this wonderful moment.

"Your, your eyes… they're different. You both look the same except for your eye color. You have green ones, and Alex has gray ones," he whispered, surprised.

The girls looked at each other then smiled knowingly.

_What? Was I supposed to know that?_ Sight. _Girls are way too complicated to understand. EspECIALLY those two._

"Eh, guys… sorry to interrupt, but if you want to get out of here, we should hurry up, because prof. Binn still thinks that there is a Lily in the girls' bathroom. And if she doesn't come out, he will know that she either escaped… or fell into the toilet," she added with a mischievous smile.

"That's all right with me, but only if you two get of off me first." Finally realizing that they were both lying on James in a position that I won't talk about (A/N ain't I evil?! J), they scrambled up hurriedly, brushing dust off their jeans.

*~*~*~*~*

Back in the common room, James and Lily were back to arguing with each other.

_It was too good to be true, but there DEFINITELY was some improvement. I guess they either don't want to acknowledge it, or they don't want anyone else to know about it. Well, anyone else but me_. Thought Alex with a smirk.

"I have better friends than you do," said James in a loud whisper. "Sirius and Remus will do anything I ask them to, and I have known Sirius since I was born." He added with confidence.

"Well, how come they didn't try to get you out of detention? If I remember correctly, a certain red head, MY friend, came to our rescue," said Lily with a smirk.

"…I…eh… I didn't ASK MY friends to get me out. I could have stayed there, or even better gotten out by myself," he said hotly.

"Oh?" said Lily, raising an eyebrow that spoke volumes. "Then why didn't you! It would have been a lot more pleasant in there without you poisoning the air!"

"Guys. GUYS! Shut up! Or do you want the whole school to wake up to find you two out of detention early, and two Lily's?" said Alex, exasperated by their childish behavior. _They ARE fun, but sometimes, they don't realize what time it is. Well, actually, even I don't know what time it is now. Probably going toward midnight…_ she though, yawning.

*~*~*~*~*

"So, Jamsie…" said Sirius, in a voice that made James shiver. "I heard that you and Lily had a little, eh… incident? Which ended with her lying on top of you…?" he finished with a knowing smile playing on his lips.

"Well, yes, it was an ACCIDENT," said James in self-defense, knowing that it wouldn't do any good. When Sirius got something into his perverted little head, there was no possibility of dislodging it. So he told his friend everything, finishing by "why didn't YOU come, by the way?"

"Well, Moony and I thought that we should give you and Lily some time together. And as I can see, it paid off. Didn't it?" grin with lots of teeth. "And I think she…" James didn't let him finish, springing on his friend, and tackling him. The two boys playfully rolled on the floor, once James had the upper hand, then Sirius was straddling him. But neither was hurting the other. At least not consciously. A quarter of an hour later, they were lying on the Grinffindor's red carpet like flattened sausages, and panting heavily. Sirius had a black eye, as James elbowed him, and James had a bruise on his stomach, where Sirius had jumped on him. But both boys were perfectly happy, although for different reasons. James for changing the subject, Sirius for rolling on the floor, and both of them for having a friendly fight. Remus, who had been calmly observing the whole event finally commented on his friends' behavior, grinning: "I can't believe you guys thought over a GIRL! And not ANY girl at that, but the all-famous Lily Evans! I didn't know you both were her secret admirers…" he hadn't time to finish all his taunts as the "admirers", somehow found some strength to chase a laughing Remus up the stairs.

*~*~*~*~*

"Are you SURE you have the dungbombs?" whispered James?

The marauders, Lily, and Alex were once again roaming the empty halls of Hogwarts in search of mischief. They had been planning this TP (terrific prank) for days, and everyone was excited. They were all crammed under the invisibility cloak, which had been magically enlarged. But they still managed to step on each other's toes and curse under their breath. When they finally arrived into the Great Hall without anyone noticing them, they were awed. Not that they had never seen it by night on one of their numerous expeditions. But as it was enchanted to look like outside, thin tendrils of ghostly fog drifted between empty chairs, brilliant stars shone from the midnight blue sky, and a sliver of moon reflected the powdery snow in silver white. Shivering, they went to work, each person having a specific thing to do. The boys stayed in the hall, but the girls, Lily being best at charms, climbed the stairs in search of the Slyverin tower.

*~*~*~*~*

Snickering at the sleepy Slyverin, who had no idea what was about to befall them, the girls left the dark tower, happy with their accomplishments.

"I wish I could stay to see their faces when they wake up," said Lily with a sight.

"So would I, but I'm falling on my face," Alex whispered back.

"Let's see how the guys are doing. They should be finished by now."

Still quietly talking, they tiptoed down a narrow hallway full of moving tapestries. Alex eyed them nervously and she gasped in fright when someone grabbed her hand and pulled her into an empty classroom.

"What…"

"Shhhhh…" said Lily quietly. "Filtch."

Alex nodded understandement, hearing his approaching footsteps.

"Alex, come on, he's gone. Let's go," said Lily finally. "Alex. Alex?"

Her friend was standing still in front of a very tall mirror. It was framed in a silver carving of leaves and swirls of wind. The little leaves seemed to flutter in an invisible breeze. _They seem real_, thought Lily, reaching toward an especially ornate one on the left side of the carving. But she jerked her hand back as if burned and snapped her head back.

"James?" No one was standing there. Turning back to the mirror, she noticed that James' reflection seemed older, and so did hers. Raising her hand, she was mirrored by her strange reflection. _What the…?_ Both pairs of eyes looked down on her protectively, with a sad smile on their young faces, and then faded away. "No, wait!" whispered Lily; taking a step toward her now perfectly normal reflection. Finally taking a look at the entire room she saw Alex, wide eyed and open mouthed, staring at the mirror. Focusing back into reality, Alex glanced at Lily, both girls sharing an awed and excited look.

"What did you see?" the gray-eyed Lily finally said.

"I… I saw myself, but I was older… and I saw… James. It seemed as if both of our reflections were looking at me… knowing something I didn't. What did YOU see?" She asked curiously.

"I saw an older version of myself too, as a doctor, but… I… I had a wand, and you and the guys were there too…"

"Well, at least I know now that I am not going crazy," she smiled. "But what does it mean? Does it show images out of our lives, or… or the future? … But it can't be. I don't want to see Potter any more than I have to." _Liar, lire, pants on fire! Shut up!_ She told her internal voice. _All right. I like him as a possible friend_. She grudgingly admitted.

"Miss Evans and Miss Westwood," said an elderly voice.

The girls whirled around on their heals to stare at the previously empty mirror. It was now occupied by the image of an old man with a long, flowing, whit beard, half moon glasses reposing on a crooked nose, and sharp blue eyes, twinkling with understanding and knowledge.

"I am happy to see that you finally discovered this exceptional mirror," he continued talking to the gasping girls, swinging his long-sleeved hand to encompass the frame he was standing in. "Do not be surprised," he went on, "that I showed myself to two Griffindors, since I had been one myself… a long time ago." A twinkle of … mischief?… passed through his eyes, which noticed everything without seeming to.

"W… who are you?" said Lily in a shaky voice, finally managing to bring moisture into her mouth.

"Oh, yes. I am sorry. Yes, you would not know me, would you? I am Albus Dumbledore, and I have, eh 'disappeared' as far as anyone is concerned." He said with a tired smile. "In the youth of my foolishness, I tried a spell that I shouldn't have, and I, eh, ended up here, with no way of getting out," silly grin, "you can now see why I was a Griffindor, eh? Well, anyway, I need for you to help me. The world seems to be getting dark again. I don't suppose you would know who Voldemort is?" At the shocked gasp from Lily, he continued with sad eyes. "So he has taken power once again? Killing everyone in his path?… Girls, you need to help me. If Voldemort comes to power, there is no way to tell what he will do. Or I should say, there is no way to tell what he WON'T do."

The girls glanced at each other, then nodded. They would do anything to help Dumbledore, and to stop Voldemort. They had stayed awake in History of Magic enough to know that Dumbledore was the only one who could, and who ever did, defeat the Lord of the Dark. They also knew enough people with family members murdered by him to know that he wouldn't stop at ending the life of an innocent little baby to assure his future success. Alex especially knew that.

"But I want you to keep this little visit a secret. There are far too many people here who would switch over to Voldemort's side if they ever put their filthy hands on such information. Now, there is nothing to fear from him… yet. But I would ask you to please come here tomorrow or the night afterwards."

"We will" said the girls, solemnly nodding.

"But how do you know our names?" said Alex, curious.

"Ah, … I am not one of the most powerful wizards who ever lived just by name," he said with a secretive smile. "And I can recognize one of my own spells too," he added, with a look at Alex, who took an involuntary step back. "Don't be afraid. You know more than you should, and not only about Hogwarts. You made the right choice, and as unfortunate as those events will be, there is nothing you can do. And if anything, you could only make it worse," he told Alex with extreme sadness in his blue eyes. "But let us part on a more joyous note. Be careful girls, and don't let anyone know what… and whom… you found. My life is in your hands." And with that, he faded away.

*~*~*~*~*


	6. 

A visit to Hogwarts

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

Bemused, Lily and Alex looked at each other, wide eyed, and yawned at the same time, which produced a strained giggle. By unvoiced agreement, the girls left, making sure that no one was there to see them.

"We should go to the Common Room. The guys will be getting worried."

"Yea," huge yawn, "and I want nothing else more at this moment than to go to bed," said Lily.

"Oh… not even a goodnight kiss from James?" said Sirius in a mocked disappointed voice. The girls had arrived to the tower, talking, and Sirius had overheard them. Of course, as soon as he said that, he got whacked in the head by two couch pillows. One thrown by an angry James, and one by a scarlet cheeked Lily. Everyone else was rolling on the floor, trying not to laugh out loud and wake the whole dorm.

*~*~*~*~*

The next day, five very tired, but extremely excited students went down to the Great Hall, four of which went immediately to the Griffindor table to gobble down food as fast as they could, considering their long night. The fifth was of course Alex, hidden under the invisibility cloak, as she too wanted to see the result of their prank.

As other students began to arrive, they stared open mouthed at the transformation of the dinning hall. The floor as well as the walls was covered by a white, fluffy substance that suspiciously resembled clouds. White lightwas shining from above, bathing the hall in peace, and from somewhere, the soft melody of a harp was being played. It looked like… like… Heaven. _Wow, the guys did a really great job!_ Thought Lily, looking at the satisfied smiles on her friends' faces.

Surprisingly, all the students were silent, taking advantage of the peace and quiet to catch up on some sleep. That is, until the first Slyverin appeared on the top step of the stairs. At that moment, the Hall erupted in laughter, only getting stronger as more and more Slyverin made their way to breakfast. They seemed ready to burst with anger and humiliation, and there's no wonder as to why. They were wearing long, white, flowing robes, their hair was blond and curly, and they were angrily flapping great, white wings! There was only one thing they could be looking like: angels! Well, they didn't look as innocent and happy as really angels did. Rather, with their red faces, they looked like little devils disguised as angels. And in a way, they were. But Slyverin as angels? No way. That was just too hilarious. And even though the pranksters knew what was coming, they were laughing as hard as the others. And for once, they hadn't left any proof that it had been them; although many people were suspecting them, including most of the Slyverins, who were now glaring at the foursome with hatred.

*~*~*~*~*

"Did you see their face?" said Sirius, jumping up an down in excitement, at the end of the day. Everyone else was still smiling, remembering the Slyverins' faces. Especially Snape's and Malfoy's. Those two had been ready to blow the roof off. Anf fortunately, McGonogal chose that moment to intervene. Students will talk about this for years. And the marauders finally achieved their titles as the best pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen. Which by the way didn't mean they would STOP! By all means. They would try to break their record!

*~*~*~*~*

When everyone finally fell asleep in their respectful rooms, Lily lay awake, staring at the ceiling of her crimson four-poster bed. _James acted very weird today. He didn't insult me or curse me; and he had a weird look in his warm, brown eyes. STOP IT! Don't talk like that about this jerk. His eyes were shiny because he was thinking perverted little things about his flock of followers, _thought Lily angrily. _And what was that thing Dumbledore told Alex? That she made the right choic? Well, if it was about coming here, I'm sure it was a good choice. She's a great person, and it's weord how much her character is like mine. _Lily smiled. _I'm really happy she came. _But her thoughts kept returning to James, as she tried to puzzle out her feelings for him. "Arrrgg…" she said in a quiet voice so as not to wake anyone. Sitting up in her bed, she parted the bed hangings and go out of bed. _Shit! It's cold! My toes are going to freeze in no time. Wow, it's beautiful, _as she looked at the moon through the open window. The moon was just ascending the sky, and appeared much larger than it usually did. The lake was frozen over, a silvery expense of smooth, cold, ice. And the trees of the forbidden forest, bare of leaves at this time of the year, seemed alive, reaching for the unawary with scrawny limbs. Lost in contemplation, Lily didn't notice that her feet were turning blue, not that she only had a thin pyjama to cover her lithe body against the cold of a winter night. She was so taken up by the beaty of the paysage thet she jumped in fright with an undignified squack when she heared a thump, muffled by the wall dividing her dorm from the one the guys shared. _What the?… Probably the guys, doing something as stupid as getting dressed for a prank and falling over a pair of dirty socks lying on the floor. _But she didn't hear any cursing, nor any other noise such as a door closing. She was getting worried, since Sirius and Remus were her friends. _Oh, all right, so is James. I can't deny it to myself that he is funny and that I would miss him if he left. _Taking courage into both handes, she tiptoed out into the corridor. It was dark, and she almost turned around to run back into the safety of her blankets. _No! You're a Griffindor. And your friends might be in danger. _That last thought decided her. She held her wand in a sweaty and trembling hand, turning a door-knob with the other, not less sweaty nor trembling. _One…two…THREE! _And as she finished counting, she opened the door to the guys' dorm with a quick thrust, to stare upon a weird scene.

*~*~*~*~*

Lily was standing in the door's threshold, blinking with surprise at the strange sight that met her eyes. Four beds were arranged in a neat row, a large window was open to let in a cold breeze and a silver moon beam. Three boys were sleeping under crimson blankets with golden fringes. The forth one was sprawled on the floor in the tangle of his own red blanket.

"James?" Lily burst out in laugher, as much because of James' predicament as because of her fear.

"Lily?" he said in a weird voice, untangling himself from the mess on the floor. And as he stood up, clutching his blanket against the cold, Lily's laugher redoubled. Bent in half and clutching her sides, she managed to say: "You…you have PINK boxers!?!" between two outbursts of mirth.

"Yea?" he said, on his guards. "They were a birthday present from my mom, and I don't throw away presents. Especially if they are comfortable," he said, his eyebrows coming together suspiciously, but he nonetheless wrapped his blankets around him, successfully hiding his shorts. _I can't let her know. Not yet. And not like this, when I just made a fool of myself. But it had been so real…_

_ _

"What are you doing here, EVANS?" said James, in a voice that was supposed to be threatening. 

"I was enjoying the view from my window when a certain PERSON made lots of noise. I thought something had happened to Sirius and Remus, POTTER." She purposefully dropped his name from the list because of the way he just talked to her. _Here I am, walking in dark corridors, afraid, coming to the rescue of my friends, and what do I get? An 'EVANS' and a nasty look. For a moment, I really thought he was a nice guy. But if he acts this way, so will I._

_ _

_Outch!_ Though James. _She is back with the POTTER. I'm sorry Lily. I'm sorry for calling you EVANS, I'm sorry for always playing pranks on you, I'm sorry for being a jerk… I'm sorry flower. But I can't tell you that I love you, even if I really do. You will either slap me, just like in the dream, or simply laugh at me and walk away. I couldn't take that. I might seem brave and self-assured… but I'm scared to death that you will say no._

_ _

"So, what WERE you doing?" said Lily, breaking his gloomy thoughts.

"I had a bad dream. A nightmare. Because YOU were in it," said James, trying to hide his feelings by lying. "I was lying on the grass. It was spring, the sky was blue, and it was neither too hot nor too cold. It was just perfect; well, that is, until YOU came. It started raining, and there was a tornado, then there was a hailstorm and two feet of snow. I was in my shorts, so I was freezing. But you didn't seem to be cold at all. It was as if there was a bubble around you to protect you. And then, you SLAPPED me, for NO REASON!" said James in indignation. _There, this should be enough truth. I DID have a nightmare, and it had been cold, and you WERE there, but you were so cold, and I couldn't do anything to help you. So I tried to warm you, and while I was holding you, you looked up at me with your big, sad eyes, and then you… you closed them forever. But it was so real. I FELT the cold. And when you came in, I was so happy that it had all been a dream._

_ _

_What's wrong with him,_ though Lily. _One minute, he's mean and arrogant, the next his eyes get all shiny and dark, and it seems as if he has seen his own death. I really don't understand him, but I hope he's all right…It really was cool when he called me Lily instead of Evans. It seemed…right. But then, how…_

_ _

"James, how did you know it was me and not Alex? You can't see my eye color from where I am standing, the moon beam doesn't reach me," she asked curiously.

"W…what?" James finally broke free from his morbid thoughts. "Oh, …I … I don't know." He had been taken by surprise by her question so couldn't make up anything fast enough. And anyway, what would he have said? That he just knew it, like he knew that he was 'he', even if it was exactly what had happened? It's really weird, but I could pick her out of a crowd. She seems a part of me somehow. And I don't even know when that started. I guess I DID hate her at the beginning, but then, I really began to like her…a lot. But she can't know yet!

"Go to sleep Evans." _Outch. I'm so sorry Lily. _"Leave me alone, I need sleep, I have Quidditch practice tomorrow morning," said James, trying to get her to go away. _Yea, and instead of concentrating on the snitch, I will be thinking about you Lil, and probably crash into the goal posts,_ he thought with a wry smile.

_Oh yea?! _Though Lily. _Fine! And stop smiling that way. I really wouldn't want to know what you are thinking right now. Probably about your girlfriend, or how to snare some more admirers…and it makes me really sad that you never tried with ME. What am I saying?! Don't cheat yourself, Lily, you know you like him. _Sight. _Better to go, or I might do something as stupid as kiss him good night! _Giggle. _I wonder how he would react to THAT!_ And smiling, she finally left for her dorm.

_Why did she just giggle? _Though James, bemused. _Did I say something funny?…Or did she somehow read my thoughts! Oh my god! I hope she didn't. That would be way too scary. And adding to the events of this night, I won't be able to sleep. And I probably WILL crash into a goal post, if for another reason! _And with that last thought, he went to bed too.

*~*~*~*~*

The next day found two red heads silently talking to each other and giggling from time to time. They were, of course, planning their next prank, but one that only they could do. And as usually it involved Snape, and whoever happened to be nearby. Lily charmed Alex's clothes to become the exact copy of her own, and the two girls left the little room that they all had come to call 'the hole.'

A few minutes later, Snape was walking along a winding and gloomy hallway, wearing an expression more sour than that of a lemon. His long, dark, green cloak swept past him like the wings of a great bat. Walking in the opposite direction, he saw Lily. _Mudblood. Pfwa! But a pretty mudblood. _Swiveling his head back to look where he was going, he starred, as Lily walk passed him again, in the same direction as before. _What the…? _Shaking his head, _must have been the light. This hallway IS dark, and it might have been someone else. _He continued to walk, trying to forget his hallucinations. But as the day rolled by, he saw more and more Lilys, sometimes alone, sometimes two together, looking at him and giggling hysterically. It came up to the point that he was jumping at shadows, expecting to see everyone else's duplications. Finally, in the evening, he saw a Lily walking toward him, but instead of continuing like she had done all day, she stopped, and looked him in the eyes. He shivered.

"What time is it Snape," she asked, offhand.

"Eh…7:20pm" he answered, too bemuse to notice that he was talking to his enemy, as she walked away.

One minute later, another Lily came out of a room, which had no other doorway, so there was no way she could have ran past him into the room.

"What time is it Snape," she asked, with the same innocent voice as the first girl had.

_That's it,_ thought Snape._ I shouldn't have drank that third butterbeer cup._ And with that last thought, he fainted. As soon as he touched the floor, the real Lily came back from around the corner of the hallway.

"I didn't know he was _that_ weak-hearted," she said, with no trace of innocence in her voice what so ever. "Shall we leave him here?"

"He does look rather heavy, and anyway, I wouldn't touch a Slyverin if his life depended on it." The girls giggled at each other, and then, laughing, they walked away, happy of a day well spent.

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to write this next part, but I have been VERY busy: tennis practice and matches (coming home at 7 pm every day) SAT's, AP Tests… and it's not over yet.

Anyway, it was a little mean for the girls to leave Snape out in the hallway, but what were they supposed to do? And well, he IS a Slyverin!

And it's MY story, so I do with it what I like! J ha ha! The beauty of writing!

Please, PLEASE review, it only takes a few seconds, and it tells me if you like what I am writing or if you think it's crap.

Disclaimer: like always. Read the previous chapter's disclaimer if you are interested. 

REVIEW ! please J it's the little box , right below this line! 

ß ß ß ß ßß


	7. A visit to Hogwarts 7 - But it can't be!

A visit to Hogwarts

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

What happened in the last chapter: ("He does look rather heavy, and anyway, I wouldn't touch a Slyverin if his life depended on it." The girls giggled at each other, and then, laughing, they walked away, happy of a day well spent.)

Remember? Then read on:

*~*~*~*~*

But that day was by no means finished yet. First Alex, then Lily under the invisibility cloak, walked into the Common Room. Sirius was lounging in an armchair near the fireplace, playing exploding snap with Remus. But as soon as he saw Alex, he bounded over to her, in his usual happy go lucky manner. 

"Hi Lily," he said out loud, then winked at the red head to tell her that he knew who she was. She smiled back, understanding, a warm feeling growing in her tummy.

"Come on, I want to show you something," said Sirius, in a voice unlike his own. Alex rose an eyebrow, questioningly, but followed her friend as he took her hand, leading her into the secret room they had found.

Once there, he softly closed the door, gently enclosed both of her small hands into his two bigger ones, took a deep breath, and said very fast "I really like you Alex, and I don't care that in reality you don't look like you do now. It's not important. I like you for who you are inside." Alex only looked at him, her gray eyes wide. But before she could say anything, he fished into his pocket for a little, scarlet box, thrusting it into her hands, as if afraid that she might refuse. Alex opened her hand wide, staring at the present, surprised. Finally, after what seemed to Sirius like ten years, she opened the lid with a trembling hand, as her mouth formed a silent little "o" of awe. Inside the small package, on a crimson cushion with golden edges, was a finely woven silver necklace with a pendent in the form of two tiny, intertwined hands, gleaming in the faint light of a candle. Slowly, she looked up into his deep brown eyes, and smiled, as Sirius let out a breath he was not aware he had been kept. He fasten the necklace around her neck, and left his arms there, as Alex rose on her toes and planted a little kiss on the tip of his nose, and whispered "I like you too Sirius." Bringing her closer to him, he gently kissed her for the first time, his lips lingering on hers, just as they both heard a gasp. Turning toward the door, they saw a very pale James, his hand still on the door knob.

"Sirius! How could you do this to me! I thought I was your best friend," he yelled at the pair. "It w…" his jaw snapped shut as he really looked at the red headed girl, and at the color of her eyes. "Alex," he squeaked, turning a deep red, as he finally understood whom he was seeing. "I, eh…I'm sorry, I thought, it, eh, that it was…" but he didn't get a chance to finish, as another voice, full of laughter said "Lily?" All three whirled around to look at Lily, holding the invisibility cloak in her hand. Alex and Sirius smiled, turning slightly red as what was supposed to be a private and romantic moment turned into a social gathering. And James turned even redder, if possible, glaring at Lily, and stammering, "what are _you_ doing here?"

"Well, when I saw Sirius taking Alex somewhere, I wasn't about to let such a great opportunity pass, would I?" she said, still smiling. But inside her, she felt warm all over, and her hands were tingling. _James thought it was me, kissing Sirius, and he got jealous?! _As she thought about it, something kept nagging at the back of her mind, but she couldn't figure out what it was. So finally, she said, "Alex, I am sorry to interrupt your little moment with your friend over there, but if you don't remember, we have something to _do _tonight," emphasizing what she said with a jerk of her head. "Oh," said Alex, finally coming out of the clouds, and smiling sheepishly, and before the two guys could ask them what exactly the thing they were supposed to do was, the girl left. 

Left alone, Sirius looked at James with his mischievous smile and said, "so, you thought I was with Lily? And why exactly would that torment you, since she is your enemy?" He knew very well what was happening, but this was a great opportunity to annoy James a little. And, well, he _had_ interrupted him in the middle of a very serious moment. 

"I, eh, I didn't want her to hurt you," James lied unconvincingly. 

"Prongs, you are my best friend, and as such, I will give you an advice. Tell Lily the truth. I know you love her, don't say you don't 'cause it is very obvious you do." And he left, leaving James alone in the small room to munch on what just happened.__

*~*~*~*~*

Tonight, at eleven, as Lily had said, the girls had their secret meeting with the wizard Dumbledore.

Quietly walking through the silent halls, they were careful not to be seen. As they entered into the small room, they were as awed by the huge mirror as the first time. (A/N: did the mirror had a special name?) And just like the first time, Lily saw an older version of herself and James, two happy figures smiling down at her, while Alex saw herself as a doctor…with a wand. And Albus Dumbledore appeared.

"Good evening Miss Evans and Miss Westwood," he said in his calm voice. "I am happy to see that you came back. You probably already know that I have left some of my possessions in Hogwarts, in a little room near the Grifindor tower." A twinkle crossed his clear blue eyes as he watched the two girls fidget and nod. "Good. I would like you to go there, and bring me a red, leather bound notebook. It is rather small and should be at the bottom of the big wooden chest that is in one of the corners." The girls left.

They came back half n hour later, a little winded, but still alone. Along the way they ran not into Filtch, but the marauders, of all people, going on a mission of their own. Any other day, the girls would have sopped to say "hi", and trade some info on the whereabouts of the caretaker. But today, what the girls were doing was too important, so they his in the shadows until the boys walked by, hoping they would be unseen. Sirius stopped a few seconds, as if listening for something, but quickly caught up to the already retreating James and Remus.

"All right," said Dumbledore in a quiet voice. "Now, Miss Evans, I would need you to perform the charm on the last page. It is quite difficult, and I think you will need to link with the power of Miss Westwood to make it work. That is, if you accept. I will not force you to do it, especially as after you finish the charm, you might be weak for a few days, like after a bad flu. Make your decision wisely, and ask all the questions that you want. As much as I want to get out of here, I won't do it by force," he finished, very seriously, looking at each of the girl.

"What do you mean Lily will need my power? I am not a witch," said Alex.

"Every living organism has a life force in itself. A force that allows it to live. When someone is healthy and young, their force is very strong, and in addition, if they are magical, wizards or witches, their life force is even stronger. Then, as people get older, they loose some of that energy, until they die, at which time, they loose all of it. When someone dies prematurely, at a young age, all that energy is released into the universe, like a tight rubber band snapping. That is why some wizards kill innocent victims, to use their energy, instead of theirs in powerful spells. Each time you do magic, you use your life force, but as your spells are relatively weak, you don't even feel it draining you. As your spells get stronger, you will get more tired. With some spells, you can drain your whole energy and burn yourself out, from which you cannot always recover, and usually die. That is why, when a spell is very strong, wizards can link with other wizards or even non-magical persons to share their life force and make it easier. It is dangerous, I won't say it isn't," he finished quietly in his fatherly voice.

The girls looked at each other, and then, slowly, they nodded. Dumbledore sighed, whether from accepting the inevitable or from relief, the girls didn't know, but he said, "well, to link, you have to hold each other's hand, and relax. It is simple, but not known by many." The girls sat on the stone floor. Lily held Alex's hand in her left, her wand in her right, and the open notebook on her crossed legs. Taking a deep breath, she began reciting an incantation. And as she did so, a dim, blue, glow surrounded her, spreading through her arm, to encompass Alex too. The longer she spoke, the brighter the light became, and the stronger the tension in the room was. Finally, when she felt that the tip of her fingers would burst, the hallow of light around the two girls blew in a blinding flash.

Lily's eyes were flashing spots. She couldn't see anything, but she heard a gasp from the door, a thump, and someone coughing. _Did it work? What was that noise? Is Alex all right?_ When her vision cleared, what she saw wasn't what she expected. Saying she was surprised was an understatement. Her first concern, Alex, was all right; she must have fainted for a moment, and that was probably the thump she had heard. But her eyes became as big as tea cups when she saw who was holding her in his arms. Sirius! And he was looking at her, shooting daggers. No, he wasn't looking at her, but at someone standing behind her. She turned her head to stare at an old man with a silver beard and twinkling blue eyes. He was wearing a red wizard robe, embroidered in gold. The usually fun and crazy Sirius was now red with anger, and Lily was happy that this anger wasn't directed at her, because she somehow knew that he was capable of seriously injuring the person he was angry at: Dumbledore.

"What did you do to her, old man," he said, in a calm and cold voice that was even worse than if he had shouted. He was still cradling a dizzy Alex, looking at her every few seconds with concerned eyes, as if to make sure she was still there. Dumbledore, after sparing a glance at Sirius and Lily concentrated his whole attention on Alex, his usually merry eyes were now flashing from worried, to surprised, to astounded.

"I thought this was impossible," he whispered, awed.

(And now, I am going to leave you hanging for the next chapter! Ha ha! No. All right, I am not that mean. Read on!J) :

His eyes unfocused for a moment and he seemed to be looking at something far away. Then he came back to reality, and turned to Sirius.

"She will be fine, Mr. Black." There is no need to say that Sirius was taken aback. But Lily didn't know if it was because Dumbledore knew his name or because he finally paid attention to him. "When you performed the spell you found in that old notebook, did something…weird…happen?" he asked. 

Sirius's eyes became even bigger, if possible, but he answered, "we were supposed to have invited a boy, but we found Alex. We thought it was because of her name. It's a boy's name, you know." And after a few seconds he added "I don't know what you would think weird." So he told the whole story, answering Dumbledore's questions when he asked for particular details.

"Yes,… I suppose it was the blur. It should have been a clear image," he mumbled to himself. Finally,Lily couldn't take it anymore.

"What are you talking about!? Would you be so kind as to enlighten us?!" she said sarcastically. Dumbledore looked at her for a long time, and Lily almost wished she had stayed quiet. Then he spoke again.

"Miss Westwood…is a witch," he said simply.

(A/N: and now, I AM going to leave you. Cliffhanger! Yea, I love those! All right, if you review, I will continue! And anyway, I have to review for my AP Bio test. It's Wednesday, and it lasts 3 hours!!! I should probably add a few more exclamation point to that! Wish me luck please! And review!) J


	8. A visit to Hogwarts 8 - explainations an...

A visit to Hogwarts

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

Lily stared at Dumbledore with her mouth hanging open. _Has he lost his marbles? Maybe he stayed in that mirror for too long. It's impossible. Alex is sixteen. If she were magical, she would have been sent a letter to attend Hogwarts on her eleventh birthday. But she didn't. So she isn't magical. …Is she? She really wanted to be a witch, and it would be great if she really were. She would be able to stay here,_ thought Lily, and then, she remembered something. Oh my god! _The mirror. She said she saw herself with a wand! The mirror shows the future. So it IS true. She really is a witch!_ She knelt down beside Alex, making sure she was all right, because Sirius was a boy, and boys didn't know anything about girls. That was a fact. At that time, Sirius was looking from Alex to Dumbledore, comprehension dawning on his face. _Is this real? Or am I dreaming?_ He pinched himself. Hard. _Ouch! Definitely not a dream. This is great! She will be able to stay here! Yea! Great! _He was thinking along the same lines as Lily, but for a different reason. As much as Lily wanted Alex to stay because she was her best friend, Sirius wanted her to remain for that too, but also because…_ Well, I'm not going to lie to myself. I love her. And I AM old enough to know what love is. She might look like Lily, but deep down, she is really different. I'll leave 'fire ball' for James, _thought Sirius with a smile.

Meanwhile, Alex had regained consciousness to hear Dumbledore's last words. And she was thinking…nothing at all, but emotions rushed through her like a mountain spring. Fear, wild delight, indecision, bewilderment…

"Is…is it real?" she asked in a tiny voice, afraid that if she spoke louder, she would wake from this wonderful dream.

"As real as can be," answered Dumbledore warmly. "And I might as well explain to you what happened, as I see it," he said, sitting down on the floor cross-legged. Lily quickly dropped on the floor too, and Alex found a comfortable position in Sirius's arms.

"Most of the time, people are magical because their parents were. They inherited that magic from their ancestors through the ages. People who are called muggle-born but find themselves using magic also inherited that magic from their ancestors. But it was so long ago that they do not remember that they even had a magical person in their family. Bus as I said, that happens most of the time. Rarely, very rarely, a person who is truly muggle-born can become magical. That happens when a magical and non-magical persons work together on a powerful spell. And both have to be willing to do it. That is why it I so rare. Wizards usually do not work with muggles, and muggles are usually afraid of them anyway. But if something like that happens, the simplest way to explain it is that the non-magical person is blasted open with the force of the spell. Depending on the force of the spell and of the wizard, the newly magical person will either have very weak powers, very strong ones, or she will die from the impact, which happens most frequently." He stopped to let the information sink in. "This…method…has advantages as well as disadvantages," he continued seriously. "The new wizard/witch will be able to perform magic without having to use a wand, as it will come from inside her. It will be more instinctive. However, he or she will be very weak for a ling time, and that too will depend on the power that was blasted through them. The more power, the weaker the person, for a longer period of time. And I fear that you, my dear" he turned toward Alex "received a great amount of that power because Lily, here, is a very powerful witch indeed. But since I am already telling you this, I should as well tell you that using such powerful spells is dangerous for a different reason too. Such spells can be 'seen' from far away. And the stronger the spell, the easier to 'see'. Voldemort will surely be looking for such powerful spells. I am sorry to put you into danger, but I had no idea that such a thing as just happened COULD happen. The fault is mine. Something should be done about it. But for now, I would ask you to please not go anywhere alone. Always have a friend with you. As for what to do with you, Miss Westwood, I would advise you to sleep and rest for as long as you need, and then finish your studies at Hogwarts. Although your power is instinctive, you cannot always depend on instinct. And even more important are the ethics of magic. No wizard should leave his school without graduating from this class."

"Eh, mister…" interrupted Sirius.

"Albus Dumbledore," Dumbledore finished for him.

Sirius's eyes went big in recognition, but he continued. "Mr. Dumbledore, we, eh…don't have any ethic class in Hogwarts."

"What do you mean? You do not learn the ethics of how and when to use magic?" At the headshakes from Lily and Sirius, he continued. "Then I suppose that you at least learn physical defense, and not only magic!" More head shakes. "Heavens above! What has this school come to! This is inadmissible! Tell me, who is the Headmaster of Hogwarts now?"

"Prof. Dipett," said Lily in a quiet voice, a little afraid of the old man's outburst.

"Dipett? DIPETT!? Then no wonder this school is falling apart!" said Dumbledore, outraged. Then he looked at the three teenagers and said, in a much milder tone, "I am sorry kids. But do not worry. Prof. Dipett is an old friend of mine, and I believe it is high time that I pay him a little visit." And with that, he disappeared.

*~*~*~*~*

Silence took the professor's place, as the three "kids" looked at each other, at a loss for words. Then, finally, Alex realized that she was leaning against Sirius. She blushed and tried to get up, but she was too weak to stand, and anyway, Sirius was firmly holding onto her. _For a moment, I thought I had lost you forever. You can't imagine how it made me feel. And I don't want to remember how it felt. Ever. I won't let you go again. Please, tell me you will stay,_ thought Sirius, looking at Alex with eyes full of hope and anxiety.

"Alex," he whispered. She did not answer.

"Alex." She was lying limply in his arms. For a second, Sirius became frantic, afraid that something had happened to her again. But then, a happy smile spread through his face. She was only sleeping. At the same time, Lily was watching her two friends with mixed emotions. She was very happy for them, but also felt a pang of loneliness. _I wish James was here. I wish he would grin at me with his funny smile…_But she did not let her mind wander on this path for very long. She dared not. Not yet. And anyway, Sirius suddenly got up, and carefully picked Alex up.

"I think we should bring her to the secret room. She will be safer there." Lily only nodded, still trying to keep her mind of a certain person, and they left.

*~*~*~*~*

_Her eyes are beautiful, thought Sirius. And she seems so innocent._ Snort. _Yea, right. As innocent as me. But it's what makes her the way she is: just perfect. _Sirius was sitting on the floor, with his head propped up on the couch on witch Alex was sleeping. _I don't know how I ever lived without her. _Soft laugh. _I sound like a fool in love, like in one of those mushy ballads…but hey… it's true!_ But the joy in his heart was quickly replaced by worry and dread. _What if she wants to go back home? She has friends and family over there. I'm sure she will miss them. And what will she tell them? 'Mom, I'm a witch, and I will leave you for a year to attend a wizarding school in England'? Ha!, I don't think so. _Sigh.

*~*~*~*~*

As for Lily, as soon as she made sure that Alex was all right, she left to go back to her room. Tired as she was, she thought she would fall sleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. But she soon found out she couldn't. She was thinking about James, and couldn't get him out of her mind. _What do you want James?_ She thought as if he was right in front of her. _Why won't you leave my mind alone? Why do you have to be so cute? Why do you have to have such beautiful sparkling brown eyes? All right,_ she thought grudgingly, _I love you. But you don't have to know. You will probably just laugh right in my face._ She sighed again, then decided to take a walk downstairs. Fortunately, the stairs didn't creak. In the Common Room, the fireplace cast dim, flickering shadows on the walls; living shapes, dancing to an unheard tune. Lily sat down in a red armchair, curling her cold feet under herself, and stared at the flames, trying to think of nothing. But a few minutes later, she stifled a scream as she felt hands touch her shoulders.

"Potter!" she said angrily between her teeth, "what are you doing here? You scared me, idiot." _Sorry about the 'Potter", James, but I can't let you know how I feel yet,_ she thought, not seeing the hurt look on James's face.

"Relax Lily," he told her softly, and of all things, began massaging her shoulders. _What the…? _Thought Lily, surprised, tensing up. _Maybe I should tell him… NO! _She thought resolutely. _It would only break this moment. Mmmm…this feels so good. Where did he learn to do that?_ Lily finally relaxed under James's warm hands, closing her eyes, a smile on her face. Slowly, she was falling asleep under James's rhythmical strokings. Finally, he stopped, whispered "good night," and quietly left Just before he reached the bottom of the stairs, Lily opened her eyes, sad that he had left, and whispered "thank you James," wondering if he had heard. Reluctantly, she went back to her dorm, and fell asleep thinking about James, and wondering about the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

*~*~*~*~*

James heard Lily coming downstairs. _No, I _felt_ her coming downstairs, _he thought, surprised at this new, strange feeling, making his way downstairs. _This seems to be becoming a routine,_ he thought wryly. Lily was sitting in a big armchair, her hair reflecting the firelight, seeming to have a life of its own. His breath caught in his throat. Without thinking, he came up behind her and started massaging her shoulders. _She seems to be enjoying it,_ he thought wryly. _Does she love me? Naw, she wouldn't have said 'Potter'. _Sigh. _The worse thing that can happen is when love is one-sided, bumping against hate. Am I becoming philosophical? _He smiled. _Oh, Lily has fallen asleep, _he thought, a weird feeling in his stomach._ She is so beautiful when she is not screaming at me. _For a moment, he considered giving her a kiss, but then thought better of it. _I won't screw up this moment, I've already done it too many times._ So he left, saying "good night," and thinking, _I know I will have a good one, thinking of you._ At the bottom of the stairs, he heard Lily murmuring a thank you, and saying "James," instead of her usual "Potter", and his heart skipped a beat. Not knowing what to answer back to her, he went up the stairs, beaming, a new hope blossoming in his heart.

*~*~*~*~*

A hooded figure was sitting in a big, high-backed chair. The chair was exactly in the middle of a small dark room. The shades were closed and so were the windows, but despite the darkness, the room _felt_ dark, musty, old, and…evil. A small fire smoldered in the smoky chimney, but it gave off no heat, and the light it produced was swallowed by the darkness, which seemed to push the light out, strangling the life out of it. But it made no difference to the hooded figure; it didn't notice its surroundings. It was too preoccupied with the feelings that washed through him, like waves breaking on dark cliffs.

"Argg," it said silently. "So dear Dumbledore is out in the world again," sneer, "and he found himself a nice little witch to do the spell for him." It laughed madly. "Well, we will take care of that. Won't we?" Now, its voice was cooingly sweet, a rotting candy. It whipped out a long wand and began moving it through the air, cackling like a madman.

*~*~*~*~*

James was lying on his bed, looking at the ceiling, but not noticing anything, and only wearing his boxers. This time, they were as green a Lily' eyes. _Lily. Should I tell her now? But what f she says no ads slaps me? _For a moment, his cheek stung, and he raised his hand as if to touch it, then let it fall on the soft mattress. Suddenly, making up his mind, he leaped out of bed and made his way downstairs, if a little uncertainly.

*~*~*~*~*

Down in the Common room, Lily was sitting in a crimson armchair, absorbed in the little black box in her hand. The warm fire cast an orange glow on her features, and her hair seemed to be flickering flames. Slowly, she opened the box, and gasped. Nestled in a deep green cushion was the little silver figurine of a coiled snake. Each little scale was visible, and its eyes shone green. _Wow,_ though Lily. _This is beautiful! It seems alive. _Looking at the present, lily did not notice James standing behind her, jealousy making his face red and his eyes fairly glow. _Who sent that to her?! A friend, or someone who loves her? I can't tell her that I love her now. She will just say 'pff, look what MY boyfriend gave me'. _And the more James thought about that 'boyfriend', the more he hated him. Lily was still enraptured by the silver snake. Slowly, her hand came up to touch it, and James chose that moment to wake her from her daydream, touching her shoulder as her fingers lightly brushed the figurine…and they disappeared from the Griffindor Common Room…

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: well, it's the end of this chapter. That's what you get for not reviewing: cliffhangers.

Most of you probably know that the thing that count how many people read my stories has been disabled indefinitely, so I have no way of knowing if people actually read my stories. It would be a GREAT help if you could drop by and tell me what you think: please review. I am getting tired of asking for people to review my chapters but they seem either blind or they don't know how to read.

Disclaimer: read the ones before. They're all the same J

Oh, so what do you think? Should I change the title to : "The heart of Magic"?(You could at least review that., couldn't you? Please. And I am asking nicely, if you haven't noticed!)


	9. A visit to Hogwarts 9 - So cold...

A visit to Hogwarts

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 9: So cold

They disappeared from the Griffindor's Common Room…to find themselves standing in an empty plain, both blinking stupidly at each other. It was daylight, and a warm breeze was running through the ankle deep grass. Back at Hogwarts, it had been the middle of winter, while here, it seemed to be late summer.

"A portkey," said James lamely.

"Deuh!" That was of course Lily. But as soon as she understood, her temper rose, and she began to yell at James.

"What were you doing in the Common Room in the middle of the night! What were you doing, touching my shoulder! And what were you doing, spying on me, James Potter!!" she was seefing with rage, her face as red as her hair. "How DARE you spy on me! I am NOT like one of your little followers, running after you wherever you go!" After half an hour, when she finally ran out of bad superlatives for poor James, he was speechless and hurt. _How could she have known that I wanted to tell her that I loved her? But I definitely can't tell her now. Not when she's in one of her moods, or she WILL slap me. Hard. _James shivered, as much because of that thought as because it was getting quite cold. Heavy gray clouds had been blown over the sky by the gusty wind, and the temperature had plummeted. Goose bumps began to appear on the unclothed parts of his body, which is to say, almost everywhere. The cold finally cooled down Lily's anger, and she began to think about a way to get back to Hogwarts.

"All right. We have to get out of here. Do you have your wand?" At his headshake, she grimaced. "No, where could I have put it, down my pants?" he answered.

She glared at him, but continued. "I don't either. I wasn't suspecting that thing to be a portkey. And by the way, where IS the damn thing?" Picking up the silver snake, she stared, as the first heavy snowflake danced in front of her eyes.

"Pretty expensive for a portkey," said James, once again jealous. And he couldn't help asking whom it was from. But Lily only snapped at him. "None of your business!"

Around them, the snow was quickly accumulating on the ground, a white blanket recovering the huge expense of now dead grass. Lily looked around her and in a small voice said, "Maybe it was a joke from the Slyverins. You know, snake, Slyverins…? James. James?" James too had been looking at the falling snow. But he knew something that Lily didn't. Something that made his eyes really big and dark. _The dream! This is exactly like in my dream! And if I don't do anything, Lily will…_ He couldn't finish his thoughts, and as if from very far away, he could hear Lily's voice, calling his name. Very slowly, he turned his head, looking into her green eyes. He seemed to be moving through a thick fog. Lily, exasperated, and becoming worried for James shook him by the shoulders, and as her fingers touched his bare skin, both of them gasped.

"James! You're freezing!"

"N…n…no kid..d..ding!" his teeth were shattering, and he could still feel Lily's hands on his shoulders. They had been as hot as branding irons. _Well, maybe the dream had been wrong. Maybe Lily will survive, and I will die. It…it wouldn't be that bad. I'm so cold…_ But through his murky thoughts, he could still see Lily, who was now too shivering uncontrollably in her thin shirt. _I can't…let… her die, _thought James between two clicks of his teeth.

In an unvoiced agreement, they cleared away the snow from a patch of yellow grass, making a crude barrier against the restless wind, and they sat down, huddling each other. By now, their hands were blue, and they couldn't feel their feet.

"I'm s…s…so c…c…cold," whispered Lily.

James only held her closer, and a tear came rolling down his cheek. All around them, the snow was gently covering the world, and the wind sang its mournful song. No other sound could be heard. Silence was heavier then the snow. James's mind was slowly drifting in and out of consciousness, barely keeping an already slipping grip on life. _I have to tell her, _he managed to think through the numbness of his mind.

"Lily," he whispered in her ear "remember the dream I told you about?" she barely nodded. "I lied because I was angry at you. It…it had been exactly like this, but in the end you…you closed your eyes, and…didn't open them. Forever. You d…d…" he couldn't finish, as another tear followed the first. "Do you believe me?" 

She didn't say anything for a long time, and James was beginning to think that she didn't. But she finally nodded and whispered, "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm really grateful that you're here with me." And with that, she closed her eyes. "I'm so cold," she repeated. _Think of summer, think of hot, humid days. Think of running in a meadow full of butterflies, _thought Lily miserably. _Don't…don't think about the cold._ But how could she not think about it? She couldn't feel her body anymore. And James, as much as he was trying, couldn't warm her enough. They couldn't survive this much longer. James's body was turning blue, and he knew that if he died, so would Lily. _Oh, Lily, Lily,_ he moaned. _Please God, don't let her die. Take me instead. Please, Lily… I love you…_ But then, a faint idea passed through his head. He was desperate, but it might just work. He concentrated as hard as he could on his internal heat and on Lily. _Please, let this work. If only she could have my heat added to hers, she will survive. I won't need it anyway, if she doesn't. _He chocked on his tears as he thought about a future without Lily. _No! This has to work! _And with a last thought, a glowing blue light enveloped him and Lily. He felt warmth passing from his already cool body into Lily, tingling his fingers as it finally disappeared into hers. And with a smile, he opened his eyes to look into her huge, surprised ones. Knowing it was probably the last time he ever saw her, he told her what he didn't have the courage to tell her for so long.

"I love you," he whispered, as consciousness left his cold body.

"James, it's getting warmer," said Lily, as she felt heat pour into her chilled bones. "James. James?" she gasped as she touched his shoulders. They were as cold as stone. And then, she remembered his last whisper and it all made sense. "No! James! Listen, you can't do that. Do you hear me? You can't leave me here alone! James!" she was screaming at him, shaking his shoulders, but he didn't respond, only lay limply in her arms. Weak with fright and hoarse from shouting, she cradled him in her arms to try to warm him as best she could.

Time past, but in this bleak emptiness, she could not have said if it had been hours or minutes since they first came here. The snow was still falling relentlessly, burying everything under its cold blanket. Lily was rocking back and forth in grief, holding the unconscious James, and thinking about what she should have told him. "I'm sorry James, I'm so sorry…i…I love you," and she really did. _How could I have been so blind?, _she sobbed._ I had to lose you before I noticed what my heart knew all along. And now it's too late. _The snow, the silence, and the desperation finally caught up with Lily and brought her into a kind of trance, half asleep, half awake. She didn't know what was going on around her, and she didn't care. All she wanted was to get out of this miserable place with James, alive.

*~*~*~*~*

Back in the castle of Hogwarts, somewhere on the third floor, two old wizards were having a conversation. And although they were as different as any two person can be, physically and psychologically, they were great friends.

"Ha ha! Dumbledore, old pal, I couldn't have thought it of you. Stuck in a mirror for all those years! Really, this is too much! And I had been wondering were you had gone to!" And the old wizard continued laughing. Sitting in a comfortable red armchair with gold fringes, Dumbledore was smilling to his long time friend. They had known each other since their first year at Hogwarts. And even after "all those years" as headmaster Dipett put it so well, they still liked each other's company.

"But, let us be serious for a moment Albus. I have a proposition to make," said Dipett, his voice grave.

"And I too have something to ask you. Something that I have heard from a few students and that pains my heart. Is it true that Hogwarts does not have a Magic Ethic Class, nor a Physical Self Defense Class?"

Dipett heaved a great sigh. "Unfortunately, that is true, and that is why I have that proposition to make. Dear friend, I want you to become the new headmaster."

Dumbledore only looked at him with wide eyes, as if struck in the back of the head with a board. Dipett, mistaking his friend's expression for uncertainty added "please? You know very well that you would make an excellent headmaster, and unlike I, you are well suited for the task." 

Fortunately, or maybe not so fortunately, Dumbledore was spared the answer, as both wizards felt a huge amount of raw magic being used somewhere out of Hogwarts's grounds. Leaping from his chair as if it was on fire, Dumbledore shouted, "Where did that come from? Dipett, come with me, this is important." Waving his wand in the air until red, brightly glowing sigils appeared, Dumbledore's face was very serious as he said, "whoever produced that amount of power is in the Forsaken Land." After a few more sigils appeared, floating in space, he gasped. "Goodness gracious! Lily and James!" And with that exclamation, he made a magical gateway and pulled Dipett in after him.

The cold slapped them in the face as soon as they stepped through. Huddling in their cloaks, they slowly made their way to where the residue of the magic spell was emanating from. Dumbledore was anticipating the worse, knowing that someone had to have been desperate to try such a spell. No one in his right mind would even attempt it if not in danger of death because of the consequences of its failure, which was worse than death. Dumbledore shivered, as much from the cold as from that thought. Magic so powerful could destroy your mind, leaving you as an empty shell, or even worse, burn out your ability to touch the magic flows and thus efficiently stopping you from doing magic ever again. As for Dipett, he was following Dumbledore, not being much of a leader. Why he had been appointed as Headmaster in the first place was a wonder.

Finally, in the midst of the still falling snow, the pair saw a form, half covered by snow, crouched in the white cold.

"Lily! James!" they began calling, hopping for the best, yet fearing the worse. As they came closer, that form dissolved into a shivering red- headed girl, cradling an unconscious boy with windblown, jet black hair.

*~*~*~*~*

Lily was softly singing a sad tune, too tired to cry, wondering if all this whiteness was what Heaven was like. She then saw two angels walking toward her. _No, those aren't angels. They don't have wings._ She thought flatly, not even caring whether they were here to help or to harm her. She had spent far too much time in this bleakness, and after a time, even James's magically transferred heat began to fade, to leave her shivering, cold to the bone. She had stopped hopping. She was beyond hope, for herself and for James. Thinking about James, she started sobbing, her tears freezing on her cheeks. Was he even still alive? _No! James! Don't go away! _She yelled in her thoughts, then whispered his name like a litany, "James, James…James… …James…" The two people drew closer, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she recognized Dumbledore's white hair and beard, and Headmaster Dipett. 

"Lily, James, everything will be all right now," said Dumbledore, but his eyes, stealing a glance at James, said over wise. Lily let herself be magicked back into Hogwarts, but never let go of James's hand. Finally, she sank into a deep, dreamless sleep, under the influence of Mrs. Pomfrey's medication.

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: sorry it took so long. The finals are approaching, and that means only one thing: lots of studying (as if I didn't have enough of that already). Anyway, thanks for everyone who reviewed. Lily girl, you are right, it's not fair to punish those who DID review. So here was the next chapter. Oh, by the way, I already finished the whole story! I just have to type it. The "just" make take some time. Ha Ha, I know the ending and you don't. sorry. J I just had to write that. The thing is, I write my stories in my notebook, in math class, but I can only type them at home, and usually, I don't have the time to do that. All right, I will stop telling you about my life, which, if you really knew the whole of it, is really weird. Anyway, I began another Lily/James story, but it's very depressing.

For those who read "May your life be eventful", well sorry, but it wasn't meant to be a series, so unless I have lots of free time, it will stay that way for a while.

Finished my A/N. Aren't you happy? J

Please review.


	10. A visit to Hogwarts 10 - Awakenings

A visit to Hogwarts

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 10: Awakenings

Lily opened her eyes onto a white ceiling. She didn't remember anything. She was lying on a soft bed with white blankets. The walls were white as well, and as she turned her head left, she saw a row of empty beds. But it was the silence and the sterility of the air that told her that she was in Hogwarts' Hospital Wing. _Something bad must have happened if they don't let visitors in. _She thought flatly, without emotions. She was beyond emotions. She didn't want to remember why she was here, because she somehow knew that it was bad. She stared at the ceiling some more, then turned her head to her right, and painful memories flooded her mind like a raging river. James was lying in the bed to her right, covered by a white blanket right up to his chin. He seemed to be only sleeping, but Lily knew over wise. She had seen him sleeping more than once, while sneaking downstairs, and he had always been sprawled on his bed, rumpled blankets lying halfway on the floor. She squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed that this wasn't true, but the afterimage of James burned into her closed eyelids. She couldn't forget that he had risked his life to save hers. _Oh James,_ she sobbed._ Why did you have to do that? I will never forgive myself if you don't wake up. No! You have to be all right! _Stumbling, she got out of her bed to kneel next to his, staring through blurry eyes at his emotionless face. And it gave her the creeps. She had never seen him like this. James, the happy-go-lucky, always smiled; that mischievous grin of his was a trademark. Even when he slept, his mouth quirked up. Now, he looked…dead. _No! He isn't!_ "James! James! Wake up!" said Lily, her voice breaking, and lightly shaking his shoulders. But he didn't respond. Lily put her head on his covered chest and heard a faint and slow heartbeat. She began humming a song, tears silently falling from her sad green eyes. She knew this song because James had taught it to her, a long time ago, but she remembered it as if it was yesterday. It was a song of sadness and melancholy, but it gradually changed into hope and salvation. Sunshine after the rain,

*~*~*~*~*

Silence. No. Far away, as if separated from him by miles of distance, he could hear a voice, softly murmuring something. But it was so very faint that he could not make it out.

Darkness. That was complete. But was it the darkness of a moonless night, or the darkness of dreams and nightmares; of unconsciousness. He didn't know, and he didn't want to find out, yet. Oh, but he was so very tired…and numb. He couldn't feel his body, except for knowing that it was still whole. Then once again, he sank into the deep and dreamless sleep of the sick. 

*~*~*~*~*

When he woke again, the murmur was gone, but so was the darkness. In its place was the yellowish grayness of closed eyelids. But did James want to find out what was behind this barrier of safety, of unknown? He could now feel his toes, curled under a warm blanket. Where was he? Not in that snowy plain anymore. Snow. Yes, he remembered the snow. He remembered what he had done, and his heart tightened, hoping that Lily was all right. He had been semi conscious for a time after the spell, his mind slowly wandering away as the cold had settled in his body, and he knew that Lily had figured out what he had done. She had then started to shout at him, cursing him for leaving her alone. He smiled. It was just the type of thing that she would do. But then, as the cold took hold of his mind, he sank into a sort of trance, and he couldn't make out reality from his dreams. He recalled Lily crying and saying "I love you James," but he was sure that _that_ was part of his dreams. But he could always think as if she had really said that. Life would be kinder that way.

As his stomach growled softly, his thoughts shifted that way too. But if he was hungry, then why did his stomach feel so heavy? His hunger as much as his curiosity led him to open his eyes…and to shut them back very quickly. The room was spinning crazily, making him dizzy. He groaned, and slowly opened his eyes again. The room, in Hogwarts hospital wing he noticed, finally stopped its wild revolutions after what seemed a very long time. And for now, all thoughts of food were gone, but the curiosity wasn't, so James looked down on his stomach…and stared, his heart skipping beats, and his throat closed tight. _Oh no! Not again!_ He moaned softly with grief, looking with pained eyes at the bloodless face of the girl hugging him in her arms. Her firey hair was spread on the white blanket like blood, which accentuated the paleness of her cheeks. His eyes drifted lower, and as he saw her chest rise slowly and rhythmically with each breath, he smiled. She was safe. She was okay. He wanted to shout his joy, but didn't want to wake Lily. Too late. She opened her big green eyes, full of grief, sadness, and surprise, and just looked at him, a smile slowly spreading on her face. And with that, the whole room seemed to glow.

"Lily," James whispered, "I did not risk my life to save you from that snowstorm to have you dying from pneumonia," he mock admonished her, as she shivered, her bare feet numb from the cold floor they had been lying on. He managed to make some room on the narrow hospital bed, and Lily lay down on the blanket, next to him, holding him tightly, and not intending to let go. Then, with tears of joy at finally being safe, and together, rolling down their cheeks, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

From the doorway, professor Dumbledore retreated silently into the darkness of the hallway, a fatherly smile on his kind face.

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: this is short, sorry, but it is a good part to end at for now. No don't worry, this is not the ending of the story yet, but as I will be going away, I do not know when the next part will be put up, so I thought that better a short one than none. J Enjoy, and please review.

~Ola~


	11. A visit to Hogwarts 11 - Going home and ...

A visit to Hogwarts

A visit to Hogwarts

By Ola

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 11: Going home

Back in their secret little room, Alex was waking up, and the first thing she saw was Sirius, sleeping, sitting on the cold ground with his head propped up on the edge of the sofa on which she was lying. She sighed. He was so nice for her… _He won't fall in love with Lily, James will do that…eventually, _she thought ruefully. _And he won't marry. It's really weird knowing the future. But why won't he?_ She thought for some time and had to clap her hands on her mouth lest she wake him up, laughing as she was. But she was laughing because she had just figured out why Sirius wasn't going to get married, even if there were lots of nice and beautiful magical girls. _Because he loves me! Is that really why?_ She was very happy, almost jumping up an down like her sleeping friend always did. Then, suddenly, she stopped, as she realized something else: they lived in two very different worlds, and very far apart. And they were not old enough to just go on their own. _Damn! This is going to be problematic. What am I supposed to do? _Then she remembered Dumbledore's invitation. She could stay at Hogwarts for another year! But would she? On one hand, there was Sirius, and the new and fascinating world of magic. On the other, there was her mom and dad, her friends, her old but comfortable world, CD players, TV's… sigh. _I hate those types of choices! _Tears were welling up in her gray eyes. _Chose between family love an my own love? It's like choosing between breathing clean air and drinking clean water! And I won't cry! I'm not a baby! _She though vehemently, as she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. _Oh, Sirius, what did you do to me? Why did you have to be so nice, so funny, so cute, so considerate…?why did I have to fall in love with you? _And as she thought that, she realized that it was true, but as much as she loved him, it made the situation that more difficult. Torn between that choice, she slowly sat up and put her head into her hands, hot tears rolling down from her eyes. 

*~*~*~*~*

Sirius woke up with his habitual grin, but it vanished as soon as he saw the girl sobbing softly into her hands. _What the? What happened? Did I do something wrong? _And he asked her, but she only shook her head.

"Please, Alex, tell me," he said softly, as if talking to a hurt child. Taking her in his arms, he held her tenderly until her sobs subsided.

"Sirius, no, please, you're only making this worse," she whispered. Hurt, he released her, wondering what had happened when he was asleep. But he soon found out. Taking a death breath, she told him what she had been thinking about, slightly blushing at the part about how she felt toward him. But if he was to know, he should know _all_ of it. When she finished, she was startled that Sirius only chuckled, and then, she became angry.

"How can you dismiss this so offhandedly?!" Sirius stopped laughing at once and put his hands up in mock protection.

"Wow, Al… I was only happy because I had thought that something really bad had happened… like me hurting you or something."

"And this is not bad?" she hissed. 

Sirius stayed quiet for a moment, then softly said, "it is, but we will find something. I just didn't want to think about it too much. I want to have a great time until we either find a solution, or have to go away."

After a time, Alex nodded, a strand of red hair falling into her eyes, and smiled as Sirius tucked it away behind her ear. "All right, we should go check up on James and Lily. I haven't seen them since that night we set Dumbledore free, and I heard that they got into an awful lot of trouble."

"Can you walk there, or do you want me to carry you?"

"Sirius, it has been four days! And please stop patronizing me! Although it would be nice if you would carry me," she said with a mischievous smile. "But if you hold my hand, it will be all right too."

No one saw them as they made their way into the Hospital Wing, Alex stumbling a few times, and Sirius finally deciding to carry her the last few hallways. But when they got there, their eyes grew wide open, their jaws slack. In the corner further away from the door, lying on the same narrow bed, were two teenagers, sleeping in each other's arms. One was a girl with fiery red hair, and the other was a boy, his messy hair a blob of black on the stark white pillow. Alex and Sirius looked at each other, and smiled, a mischievous glint in their eyes.

"Should we wake up the two love birds?"

"No… I think they look very cute that way. I wish I had a camera with me… do you realize how long it took them to notice that they were made for each other?" she finally asked.

"Yep. It took us far less time," said Sirius, a hint of a laugh in his voice, and as soon as he finished saying that, he drew Alex into his arms and gave her a long kiss.

*~*~*~*~*

"This is it."

"Yes," said Alex. Today was the last day of the month, and she had to choose whether to stay or go home. Today at midnight.

Lily, Alex, and the marauders, in the company of Dumbledore were taking in Dumbledore's old room. Remus was sitting right in the middle of the sofa, a wild grin splitting his face, as two of the cutest girls sat next to him. Of course, on the girls' other side were their boyfriends, and his friends. Dumbledore was standing up, majestic as always in his maroon robe with golden embroidery at the hem and cuffs.

"_You_ have to make the choice. You can either stay here, and complete your last year, learning how to control your magic, or you can come back home," said Dumbledore calmly.

"W…what do you all suggest?" asked Alex, looking at each of her friends in turn. Lily, Remus and James turned toward Sirius, who heaved a sigh, and said, "you know what we want. You are our friend, and we would like you to stay. Especially me," he added, his cheeks coloring slightly. "But as prof. Dumbledore said, it is your decision, and I…we, we wouldn't want you to stay if you didn't want to. You have to think of the consequences of your actions and act accordingly," he finished.

"Wow, that was really profound," said James, trying to lighten the mood by making a joke out of it, but not really succeeding. 

Sirius only said, "that's what my grandmother always said," sullenly, while Alex mumbled sarcastically: "very helpful." She looked at Dumbledore for some help, but he only said," it is possible for you to go back home, but I doubt that the Ministry of Magic will let you perform magic in the muggle world. Of course, no one in the Ministry knows about you being able to do magic without a wand. They can only track students disobeying the rule of performing magic during the summer because they can "feel" whether wands are active or not. So you could probably do small spells if you are careful not to be too obvious about it, but you do not know any spells as of yet, and would have to learn them by yourself by trial and error, which could be dangerous, and would surely bring the Ministry at your doorstep. That would be the end of your magical career." "Or," he said after a silence to let the words sink in "you can stay here, as a new students, and study as much as you can." He then smiled a sad smile, knowing how difficult Alex's decision was, but also knowing that she was the one who had to make it.

"What if I go home now," said Alex, surprised at how calm she sounded. "Could I come back in ten days?" her voice broke at the last word, betraying her emotions.

Dumbledore's smile widened as he said, "yes, I do not see why you couldn't. But first, we need to do something." He pulled out his wand and touched Alex's head with its tip. And as soon as he did so, Alex became herself. A black-haired, gray-eyed girl, passing a hand through her boy-short hair in surprise. Instead of Lily's Hogwarts robe, she was wearing blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt. She looked at Sirius anxiously, wondering what he would think of her now that she wasn't looking like Lily anymore. As he caught her looking at him, he grinned, squeezing her hand, and if nothing, his eyes seem to twinkle even more than they always did.

"Now," said Dumbledore, continuing as if he talked to teenagers about traveling in space and time everyday, "I will ask you to keep your month here a secret. I trust that I will not have to put a spell on you. All right, in ten days, at 6 o'clock pm in your time, could you be at the same place you came through? Without being seen?" At Alex's nod, he continued, "Okay, you can take a few things with you, but try not to look too obvious. I do not think anyone would take it well if they saw you disappearing into a narrow box with a huge suitcase." He smiled. "Don't worry, we will know if it's you, and we will be there. And if you happen to change your mind, or if there is a problem. Send us an owl."

"But I d…"

"We will send you one the day before."

"All right."

"Ready? Say your goodbyes then. This won't take as long as the first time."

Everyone stood up, and there was an awkward silence, as no one knew how to act. Finally, Alex hugged Lily, shook Dumbledore's hand, then gave the guys a quick hug, and Sirius a kiss. Then, putting on a valiant smile. She nodded. On the wall next to the couch, there was an arch drawn in chalk, with fancy white symbols glimmering all over its length. Where the stonewall should have been, in the boundaries of the arch, there was…nothing. A black swirling cloud. Dumbledore began chanting an incantation in a deep voice, and Alex could feel the magic gathering in the small room. Finally, the blackness in the arch began swirling around, becoming clearer, until she could see a sunny hallway on the other side. She glanced at Dumbledore, and as he nodded, she smiled feebly, and heaving a sigh, she crossed between thousand of miles. In the blink of an eye, she was through, only a reminiscent tingling in her arms and legs. Again standing in the narrow hallway, with its row of blue, metal lockers and old gray carpets, she felt at home. Dust was gently falling in a ray of sunshine, and the silence had a presence of its own. Her green backpack still laid half open on the ground, the psychology book peaking from under the hem of her gray winter coat. She shivered slightly, remembering the snow and the bitter cold that would welcome her as soon as she braved the weather. Ten days. She had only ten days to get ready, and then, she would go back to Hogwarts and begin her magical learning. But now, she had more important things to think about. As she turned to face her locker, she noticed that the arch was gone. Only the backside of the metal box could be seen, slightly rusty on one of the corners. As she began packing her school bag, her eyes fell on a folded yellowish piece of paper, and as she recognized parchment, she knelt down and opened it with curious fingers.Hastily scribbled in green ink was the following message:

Please, don't change your mind.

I will be waiting,

Love, Sirius.

_P.S: we will be too._

_Hugs, Lily, James, and Remus._

As she finished reading it, a smile appeared on her face. "I won't," she whispered to the paper, as she carefully refolded it and out it in her bag. Shrugging her coat onto her slight shoulders, she picked up her book bag and closed her locker, the click of the lock resounding loudly in the empty hallway. Sigh. Then, fingering her pendant, she walked away into the gently falling snow of a February evening.

*~*~*~*~*

"Mom, I'm home," said Alex as she opened the door, glad for the welcoming warmth. A month was a long time to be away. _Especially being away from mom's cooking,_ thought Alex, as her nose caught a very tantalizing scent coming from the kitchen.

"Hello honey, how was your day? Did your tests go well?" asked Mrs. Westwood as she came to meet her daughter. She was a tall, middle-aged lady with short black hair, and sparkling gray eyes not unlike her daughter. She was always smiling. In short, she was an awfully nice person to be with. _Tests? Oh, the midterms! I completely forgot about those! How _did_ I do in those? _

"It went okay, math was easy…bio was harder. But my hand hurts from all that writing, and I'm tired." _Sorry mom. I really don't like lying to you, but I don't think you would understand if I told you I went to England for a month, _thought Alex, hanging her coat and taking off her shoes. "Wow, it's finally Friday. No homework, no studying…" she said aloud, with a satisfied sigh, as her mom went back to stirring a pot on the stove. Shouldering her backpack again, she walked up the wooden stairs, hearing their satisfying creak as she put her weight on the fifth step, and entered her smallish room, lighting her computer on as she changed into some more comfortable clothes: sweat pants and a large t-shirt. _Home sweet home,_ she thought, smiling at the cliché, as she sat behind her large desk and clicked on the Microsoft word icon. _This is really wired. I was here yesterday, but I wasn't._ she smiled, as she opened a new document. Click, click, went the keys under her fast fingers, as words began to appear on the screen. _Well, no one will believe me and I can't talk about it anyway. And I understand. But no one said I couldn't write about it! _She thought, typing the first lines of "A visit to Hogwarts."

~END~

*~*~*~*~*

A/N: This is the end of this series. Aren't you happy? It is very probable that I will write a sequel…sometime in the future. First, I will type another story about Lily cause I already wrote it in my notebook. Tanks for all who reviewed my chapters. I'm still a little new at all this stuff, so reviews are really great. Youpi, it's finally summer vacations! I'll be gone for 10 days to Pennsylvania, so you won't hear from me. Read lots of fanfics, and review them all! All right, and now, I have a little surprise for you, just toggle down the page. Enjoy, and please review to tell me what you think~ J

*~*~*~*~*

Well, that's it. And now, enjoy your vacations (or, if you are still in school, think fondly of them) J

AND please review!

*~*~*~*~*

Oh, oh… the surprise was supposed to be four pictures about the story. I uploaded it, but then, when I checked if they had come out in the fanfic site, they didn't. Only the titles remained. If you know how to upload pictures inserted into a story, please let me know! Thank a bunch if you could.


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